新奇事件簿 莫扎特音乐让香蕉更快成熟（在线收听）

Scientists have shown that Mozart has a positive effect on many things, but the great composer himself might be surprised that his music helps bananas ripen. A Japanese fruit company, Toyoka Chuo Seika, claims its bananas taste better after being exposed to Mozart’s music for a week. The company has special “ripening chambers” that play wall-to-wall Mozart to its Philippine bananas non-stop for a week. Company officials say "String Quartet No. 17" and "Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major" are particularly good at sweetening the fruit. The company is very confident its methods work. It has started selling its fruit as "Mozart Bananas" in local supermarkets. A spokesperson believes the bananas will become a hit throughout the rest of Japan once word gets out.

科学家发现，莫扎特音乐对许多事物都有着积极的影响。但是这位伟大的作曲家或许自己也没想到他的音乐可以帮助香蕉成熟。一家日本水果公司Toyoka Chuo Seika表示，将香蕉置于莫扎特音乐环境中一周的时间，香蕉的味道更好。这家公司有着自己特别的“成熟室”，连续一周不间断地为它们的菲律宾香蕉播放莫扎特音乐。公司官员表示，《第十七号弦乐》和《D大调第五钢琴协奏曲》对于让香蕉变甜效果是最好的。公司非常相信这个方法奏效。他们已经开始在当地超市以“莫扎特香蕉”的名号销售水果。一名发言人相信，经过口口相传，这种香蕉将会成为热门。

Toyoka Chuo Seika is not the first Japanese company to experiment with classical music to produce better tasting food. The “Japan Times” newspaper reports this is the latest in a trend spanning ten years. It writes: “Over the past few decades, a wide variety of foods and beverages have been exposed to classical vibrations — soy sauce in Kyoto, udon noodles in Tokyo, miso in Yamagata, maitake mushrooms in Ishikawa and "Beethoven Bread" in Nagoya, to name a few.” The paper reports on a 1973 study into music and plants by botanist Dorothy Retallack. It says: “After playing various kinds of music to plants for three hours daily, she found they "preferred" soothing classical, which made them flourish. Rock and country, on the other hand, had either a debilitating effect or none at all.”

Toyoka Chuo Seika并不是第一家使用古典音乐来改善水果味道的日本公司。《日本时报》报道称，这是已经历时十年的流行趋势中最新一家这样做的公司。报道称：“过去几十年，许多食物和饮料都被置于古典音乐环境中——京都的酱油，东京的乌东面，山形的豆面酱，石川的舞菇和名古屋的贝多芬面包，不胜枚举。”报纸报道了1973年植物学家Dorothy Retallack对音乐和植物的研究。报道称：“每天给植物播放不同类型的音乐，她发现植物偏好舒缓的音乐，让植物茁壮成长。而摇滚乐和乡村音乐则让植物非常孱弱或者没有任何影响。”