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One day the banana is perfect. Bright yellow, firm, flavorful. But even within the same day brown spots appear on your perfectly ripe banana, its flesh turns mushy, and it's destined for the compost or at best, banana bread.
有一天香蕉成熟了，这时它很完美。金黄，坚挺，味道可口。但是即使是在香蕉熟透的当天，香蕉皮上会出现棕色斑点。果肉变成泥，注定要成为肥料或者做成香蕉面包。
But scientists are developing a way to extend the life of bananas. It's a spray-on coating made from chitosan—a substance found in crab and shrimp shells. The new gel can be sprayed on bananas to slow the ripening process by up to 12 days.
然而科学家们正在开发一种延长香蕉寿命的方式。这是一种由壳聚糖做成的喷雾涂层，壳聚糖是在螃蟹和虾子体内发现的一种物质。这种凝胶可以喷洒在香蕉上，将香蕉的成熟过程放慢至12天。
Like other fruit bananas remain alive after being picked and they actually continue to respire. This means they take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The more the banana breathes the faster it ripens and then rots. Bananas ripen more quickly than most fruit because they don't naturally slow the respiration after being picked, in fact it speeds up, giving bananas their notoriously short shelf life.
和其它水果一样，采摘之后香蕉还是活的，它们还能继续呼吸。这时的呼吸是指吸进氧气吐出二氧化碳。香蕉呼吸的越快，成熟得越快，然后烂得越快。香蕉比一般水果成熟的快，因为在采摘之后它们并不自然地放慢呼吸，相反它们会加速呼吸，这就造成香蕉臭名昭著的短寿。
Chitosan not only kills the bacteria on banana's skin that then leads to rot, it also significantly slows down the respiration in the first place. So bananas won't drive you bananas.
壳聚糖不仅杀死了香蕉表皮细菌，这些细菌会诱使香蕉腐烂，同时显著地放缓了香蕉呼吸的节奏。因此香蕉不会再让你抓狂。
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