Question

Apples are generally wrapped in waxed paper to
(a) Prevent sunlight from changing its color
(b) Prevent aerobic respiration by checking the entry of oxygen
(c) Prevent ethylene formation that hastens ripening
(d) Makes the apples look costly

Answer 1

Hint: It is a gaseous plant hormone. It acts as a growth inhibitor. These hormones are sprayed to plants to make them flower in off-seasons. It is helpful in the ripening and flowering of various plants.

Complete answer:
To prevent fast fruit ripening apples are wrapped in waxed paper. Ethylene, the simplest alkene, is a colorless flammable gas that is used in many chemical industries as plant hormone as well as in the production of polyethylene. This hormone helps various plants in the process of ripening and flowering. In horticulture and fruits, ethylene is used to control freshness. It has the synthesis of maximum concentration during the ripening of fruits. It will result in an increased rate of aerobic respiration and leads to the hastened fruit ripening. It will result in the cell walls of apples to become soft.
-Plant hormones, or plant growth regulators (PGR) are simple organic molecules involved in promoting or regulating the growth of plants.
-Ethylene helps in the promotion of flowering and fruit ripening and is a simple molecule that exists in a gaseous form. Those plants that undergo ripening and senescence will produce it in large quantities by plant tissues.
-Ethylene is also used to induce flowering in mango and ripening of tomatoes and apples as it helps in promoting ripening and senescence.
-Ethylene involves various functions that include initiation of germination, rapid internode/petiole elongation in deepwater rice plants, breaking of seed and bud dormancy, and sprouting of potato tubers, and root growth and root hair formation.

So, the correct answer is to ‘Prevent aerobic respiration by checking the entry of oxygen’.

Note:
Ethylene is an alkene that is a colorless and flammable gas. It was first discovered by Johann Joachim Becher. The most widely used source of ethylene is ethephon/ethrel, an aqueous solution that gets broken down into ethylene, phosphoric acid, and chloride ions.