"They stay ripe for way longer, since they don't have to be picked in advance and shipped"
... and since they are treated with all kinds of chemicals who mess with the ripening.
... and since they are treated with all kinds of chemicals who mess with the ripening.
Or are they used for other purposes but affect ripening?
apart from herbicides, fungicide and pesticides, there are chemicals to block the ripening while the fruit is still on the tree, because you want to harvest all fruits at once. And then you do various things for packaging.
And there were likely other purposes as well, I have forgotten now. All in all, lots of them were used, way more than I expected. So much, that I prefer organic.