Early examples of the human utilisation of ethylene to enhance fruit ripening include the ancient Egyptian practice of gashing figs to enhance ripening responses. The ethylene produced by the injured fruit tissue triggers a broader ripening response. Similarly, the ancient Chinese practice of burning incense in closed rooms with stored pears (ethylene is released as an incense combustion by-product) stimulates ripening of the fruit. The idiom ‘one bad apple spoils the barrel’ is based upon the effect of one apple ripening (or rotting) and emitting ethylene which accelerates the ripening and senescense of apples stored with it.