1925年,英國劍橋低溫研究站(Low Temperature Research Station)的研究員富蘭克林·基德(Franklin Kidd)與查爾斯·韋斯特(Charles West)觀察採收後的蘋果熟成的現象,他們量測二氧化碳的濃度,發現蘋果的呼吸作用有上升的現象,並將此現象命名為更年性(climacteric)[8][10]。劍橋大學的植物學家弗雷德里克·布萊克曼以兩人的研究為基礎,開啟了此領域的相關研究[11]。
D. Arthey, P.R. Ashurst. Storage, Ripening, and Handling of Fruit. Fruit Processing. Springer Science & Business Media. 2012: 41 [2019-03-20]. ISBN 1461521033. (原始内容存档于2019-03-24).
Mingchun Liu, Julien Pirrello, Christian Chervin, Jean-Paul Roustan, and Mondher Bouzayen. Ethylene Control of Fruit Ripening: Revisiting the Complex Network of Transcriptional Regulation. Plant Physiology. 2015, 169 (4): 2380–2390. doi:10.1104/pp.15.01361.
Cornelius S. Barry, M. Immaculada Llop-Tous, Donald Grierson. The Regulation of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid Synthase Gene Expression during the Transition from System-1 to System-2 Ethylene Synthesis in Tomato. Plant Physiology. 2000, 123 (3). doi:10.1104/pp.123.3.979.
J. C. Pech, M. Bouzayen, A. Latché. Climacteric fruit ripening: Ethylene-dependent and independent regulation of ripening pathways in melon fruit. Plant Science. 2008, 175 (1-2): 114-120. doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.01.003.
F Kidd, C West. The course of respiratory activity throughout the life of an apple. Report of the Food Investigation Board for the Year 1924. 1925: 27-33.
George G.Laties. Franklin Kidd, Charles West and F.F. Blackman: The start of modern postharvest physiology. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 1995, 5 (1-2): 1-10. doi:10.1016/0925-5214(94)00009-H.