Mutant cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ) plant, which has a monogenic and intermediate genetic trait that is responsible for improved shelf life of the fruits of the plant which is directly linked to reduced sensitivity of the plant to ethylene, wherein the improved shelf life is characterized by : - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21 °C in darkness remaining firm after 12 days, wherein firmness is defined by requiring an average force of 5.1 kg/cm 2 when measuring the fruit flesh at different positions with a penetrometer; and - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness remaining visibly free of fungal growth after 12 days; - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness having reduced discoloration as compared to the negative control line after 8 days; wherein the plant has reduced sensitivity to ethylene when the ratio between the average hypocotyl length of the plant in etiolated seedling stage grown at 21°C in darkness in air containing 10-20 ppm ethylene and the average hypocotyl length of the plant in etiolated seedling stage grown at 21°C in darkness in air is at least 0.15, preferably 0.19; wherein the reduced sensitivity to ethylene does not affect sex expression; and wherein the plant is obtainable by crossing a cucumber plant with a plant grown from cucumber seeds , a representative sample of which was deposited with the NCIMB under NCIMB accession number 41716, and selecting in the F1 progeny of the cross for plants having the improved shelf life and reduced sensitivity to ethylene. wherein the improved shelf life is characterized by : - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21 °C in darkness remaining firm after 12 days, wherein firmness is defined by requiring an average force of 5.1 kg/cm 2 when measuring the fruit flesh at different positions with a penetrometer; and - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness remaining visibly free of fungal growth after 12 days; - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness having reduced discoloration as compared to the negative control line after 8 days; - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21 °C in darkness remaining firm after 12 days, wherein firmness is defined by requiring an average force of 5.1 kg/cm 2 when measuring the fruit flesh at different positions with a penetrometer; and - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness remaining visibly free of fungal growth after 12 days; - harvested cucumber fruits after storage in the presence of ethylene in a concentration of 5 ppm at 21°C in darkness having reduced discoloration as compared to the negative control line after 8 days; wherein the plant has reduced sensitivity to ethylene when the ratio between the average hypocotyl length of the plant in etiolated seedling stage grown at 21°C in darkness in air containing 10-20 ppm ethylene and the average hypocotyl length of the plant in etiolated seedling stage grown at 21°C in darkness in air is at least 0.15, preferably 0.19; wherein the reduced sensitivity to ethylene does not affect sex expression; and wherein the plant is obtainable by crossing a cucumber plant with a plant grown from cucumber seeds , a representative sample of which was deposited with the NCIMB under NCIMB accession number 41716, and selecting in the F1 progeny of the cross for plants having the improved shelf life and reduced sensitivity to ethylene. <EOS>