Mode of Action of Benzyladenine When Used as a Chemical Thinner on Apples
BA thinned apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) fruits when applied to either the leaves or the fruit, although it was much more effective when applied to the leaves. BA increased fruit size independent of its effects on reducing crop load, but only when applied directly to the fruit. When applied to one of two fruit in a cluster, BA had no influence on abscission, fruit size, or fruit characteristics of the adjacent nontreated fruit. BA reduced fruit flesh Ca only on treated fruit and the response was inversely proportional to the increase in fruit size. More than 60% of the BA applied to a fruit was absorbed during 24 hours, and this amount was considerably larger than penetration through either the abaxial or adaxial leaf surface. BA treatments that thinned also increased ethylene production linearly in both leaves and fruit 24 hours after application, but the magnitude of increase was not considered large enough to be the primary cause for thinning. BA thinned spurs with two or three fruit more than spurs with one fruit, and it did not selectively thin to just one fruit per cluster. Chemical name used: N-(phenylmethyl)-1H-purine-6-amine [benzyladenine (BA)].