Ethephon
| Names | |
|---|---|
| Preferred IUPAC name
(2-Chloroethyl)phosphonic acid | |
| Other names
Bromeflor
Arvest Ethrel | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol)
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| ChEBI | |
| ChemSpider | |
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| KEGG | |
PubChem CID
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| UNII | |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
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| Properties | |
| C2H6ClO3P | |
| Molar mass | 144.49 g·mol−1 |
| Appearance | white solid |
| Density | 1.409 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 74 °C (165 °F; 347 K) |
| 123.9 g/100 mL (23 °C) | |
| Hazards | |
| Occupational safety and health (OHS/OSH): | |
Main hazards
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Corrosive |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Ethephon is an organophosphorus compound with the formula (HO)2P(O)CH2CH2Cl. It is a colorless solid that is used as plant growth regulator.[1]
Mechanism of action
[edit | edit source]Upon metabolism by the plant, it is converted into ethylene, a potent regulator of plant growth and ripeness. When applied in a plant that is in a vegetative stage, ethylene usually acts by hindering vegetative growth and inducing the start of the flowering stage. If applied in a later stage, it can accelerate the ripening of some fruits.[2]
It is also a butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor.[3]
Uses in various crops
[edit | edit source]
Ethephon is often used on wheat, coffee, tobacco, cotton, rice, sapote,[4]and sugar cane[5] in order to help the plant's fruit reach ripeness more quickly.
Cotton is the most important single crop use for ethephon. It initiates fruiting over a period of several weeks, promotes early concentrated boll opening, and enhances defoliation to facilitate and improve the efficiency of scheduled harvesting. Harvested cotton quality is improved.[6][7]
Ethephon is also widely used by pineapple growers to initiate the fruit's reproductive development (forcing). Ethephon is also sprayed on mature-green pineapple fruits to degreen them to meet produce marketing requirements. There can be some detrimental effect on fruit quality.[citation needed]
It is sometimes used by cannabis growers to induce flowering, abort seed formation, increase the quality of the resins, induce the appearance of female flowers in male plants, and to suppress the development of male flowers in hermaphrodite plants.[8]
The toxicity of ethephon is very low,[9] and any ethephon used on the plant is converted very quickly to ethylene.[10]
The use of this chemical is allowed in the European Union.
References
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- ^ Pesticide Information Profiles: Ethephon, Extension Toxicology Net. Sept 1995.
- ^ "1994 Joint meeting of the FAO panel of experts on pesticide residues in food and the environment." UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 1994.