Growth Regulators, Plant

The arrival of new plant growth regulators on the market in the early 1990s, especially synthetic ones, is in a static state. Many growth regulators continue to be used experimentally, but the transition to approved usage is being delayed for several reasons. On the financial side, a number of mergers, buy-outs, and other dispositions of chemical companies has led to a decrease in the number of commercial compounds available. Moreover, the cost of registration has prompted some producers to withdraw chemicals from the market. Some older plant growth regulators have undergone several trade name changes, adding confusion to the field. The ideal plant growth regulator should leave no harmful persistent residue in a finished product or crop and the paradigm compounds are ones that have high specific activity, are target specific, and are environmentally biodegradable. The most acceptable growth regulators appear to be those compounds that already occur in nature and elicit certain desirable responses in economic crops. Keywords: Natural products; Growth regulators; Brassinosteroids; Cytokinens; n-Decanol; Gbberllins; Ethylene; Dikegulac; Lactic acid; Natural products; derivatives; Synthetic products; Experimental products