Wound anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum musae is the main disease affecting the quality of export bananas from the French Antilles. Little is known about the effects of ethylene on the development of wound anthracnose and quiescent anthracnose. The results of our experiments with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ethylene receptor site inhibitor, clearly revealed that ethylene was not directly involved in triggering rot development. Quiescent anthracnose symptoms were found to appear only after bananas began ripening. In contrast, wound anthracnose developed just as quickly in 'green 1-MCP-treated bananas' as in 'yellow ripening bananas'. In cases of wound anthracnose, contrary to quiescent anthracnose, rot development was not dependent on the extent of peel ripeness.