Studies on the Relation of Chemical Structure to Plant Growth-Regulator Activity in the Pineapple Plant. V. Post-Harvest Delay of Senescence of Pineapple Fruit

Abstract

The results of testing 369 compounds for post-harvest delay of senescence of pineapple fruit have been presented. Included were 94 phenoxyacetic acids, 43 other phenoxy acids, 23 phenylacetic acids, 15 hydrocinnamic acids, 20 compounds related to phenoxy acids, nine benzoic and seven salicylic acids, 48 naphthalene derivatives, 22 indole acids, five hydrazine derivatives, and eight cinnamic acids. Some 76 of the chemicals tested showed activity, and 29 were highly active in delaying senescence. The relationship of some of the chemical structures to senescence inhibition as a manifestation of plant-growth regulator activity is discussed. In the phenoxyacetic acid series, high activity was obtained from several of the halogen-substituted acids and not among the methyl-substituted acids. A few of the methyl-substituted acids did have moderate activity, however. In the phenoxy-a-propionic acid series, high activity was observed not only for a number of halogen-substituted acids but also for those with methyl ...