The Physiology of Ethylene Formation

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Abstract
This review has tried to bring into perspective the evidence that ethylene is a common if not ubiquitous product of plant tissue and that concentrations with physiological potency do occur within fruits and may occur elsewhere. Because the amounts of ethylene which are produced by most plant tissue are so small that only the most sensitive devices suffice to detect them a tendency has arisen to assume a priori that the concentration of the gas within various plant structures could not be significant. This practice should be discontinued and replaced by serious efforts to determine the actual amounts of ethylene contained witin tissues. The need for this approach becomes apparent when it is considered that a rate of production of only 0.01 [mu]1/kg/hr may suffice to cause the accumulation of the small concentration of ethylene needed to hasten the ripening of some fruits and in the past it has not been uncommon to regard rates of ethylene production below a few [mu]lAgAr as difficult to measure and insignificant. Ethylene may or may not contribute to the physiology of the wound response, leaf dehiscence, flower senescence, seed germination, rooting, and dormancy; we simply do not know. But it does participate as a hormone, stimulating ripening in some and perhaps all fruits, and this should provide incentive to examine these new possibilities with fresh enthusiasm.