Is gibberellin harmful to the human body?

Gibberellic acid is a common plant growth hormone. Under normal circumstances, a small amount of gibberellin will be produced at the top of any plant. An appropriate amount of gibberellin will not cause any harm to the plant itself. On the contrary, it will promote the growth and development of the plant. Since a small amount of gibberellin will remain on the plant, a small amount of gibberellin that enters the human body from vegetables, fruits and melons will not cause any harm to human health.

Gibberellic acid (GA3 920) is one of the five classic plant hormones and a broad-spectrum, highly effective plant growth regulator. The function of gibberellin is to end dormancy of seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs and other organs early, increase germination rate, play a role in low-temperature vernalization and long-day growth, promote and induce long-day vegetable crops to bloom in the same year, and promote the growth and development of their fruits. It is widely used in agricultural production.

The word "gibberellic acid" in the name of gibberellin refers to the source where it was originally discovered - Gibberellic acid. In the 1930s, Japanese scientists discovered that rice could sometimes be infected by the fungus Fusarium fusarium, with the result that the infected plants grew quite tall. Later, after continuous separation and purification, people discovered that this substance is actually a large class of substances with similar structures and the same physiological functions, and they collectively called these substances gibberellins. Subsequent studies also showed that plants themselves can produce gibberellins to regulate their own physiological processes.

Rice with gibberellin synthesis disorder (left) is shorter and stronger than normal rice (right).

Is gibberellin harmful to the human body?

Gibberellic acid is a plant hormone. When it comes to hormones, many people think without thinking that it is harmful to the human body, as if they have eaten poison. In fact, gibberellin, as a plant hormone, is not harmful to the human body.

Of course it has no impact. Because there are no binding receptors in the human body, it will only be metabolized. For example, different countries use different signals. Moreover, plant hormones are produced by plants themselves. Lower concentrations promote growth, while higher concentrations inhibit growth. Different organs of plants have different requirements for the optimal concentration of auxin.

The optimum concentration for roots is about 10^(-10) mol/L, the optimum concentration for shoots is about 10^(-8) mol/L, and the optimum concentration for stems is about 10^(-4) mol/L. This dose will not accumulate in the human body to a dose that will produce an effect. So don't worry at all.

What is the function of gibberellins?

Usage 1: Gibberellic acid can break the seed dormancy period

potato:

Usage: Soak potato cuts in 0.5-2 mg/L gibberellin solution for 10-15 minutes, or soak whole potatoes in 5-15 mg/L gibberellin solution for 30 minutes.

Effect: It can terminate the dormancy period of potato tubers, promote early germination, and induce lateral buds, accelerate the growth of young shoots, cause early formation of runners, prolong the tuber expansion period, and increase production by 15% to 30%.

apple:

Usage: Spray 2000-4000 mg/L gibberellin solution in early spring.

Effect: It can break the dormancy of apple buds, with significant effect.

strawberry:

Usage: It can break the dormancy of strawberry plants. In the greenhouse forced cultivation and semi-forced cultivation of strawberries, after covering the shed and keeping warm for 3 days, when more than 30% of the flower buds appear, spray each plant with 5mL of 5-10mg/L gibberellin solution, focusing on the heart leaves.

Effect: It can make the top inflorescence bloom earlier, promote growth and mature earlier.

eggplant:

Usage: Low concentration of gibberellin solution can break the shallow dormancy of eggplant seeds and improve the germination potential and germination rate of seeds. Among them, soaking the seeds in 50-100 mg/L concentration of gibberellin solution at room temperature for 8 hours has the best effect. For eggplant varieties with moderate dormancy, such as Liaoqie No. 1, Liaoqie No. 5, Xi'an Green Eggplant, etc., whether conducting germination tests or seedling cultivation, hormones must be used to break seed dormancy.

Effect: Better results can be achieved if treated with 500 mg/L gibberellin solution for 24 hours.

Usage 2: Preserve flowers and fruits to promote growth

Grape:

Applying appropriate amount of gibberellin can make grapes seedless and increase the size of the fruit

Usage: 10-20 days after the peak flowering period, spraying 100-200 mg/L gibberellin solution on young grape fruits can significantly increase the fruit setting rate, increase the fruit size, and increase the yield by 50.3%.

Effect:

1. Increase the fruit setting rate and the number of fruits in a bunch: Spray a mixture of 200 mg/L gibberellin solution and 15 mg/L 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid on Kyoho grapes 5 to 10 days before flowering. This can increase the fruit setting rate and the number of fruits in a bunch, and can make the seedless rate reach 92.2%-95.5%, with an average seedless fruit weight of 5.25-5.95g.

2. Increase the sugar content of grapes by increasing the size of the grapes: At the same time, the sugar content of grapes is 1.9% higher than that of the control (not sprayed with gibberellin), so the flavor is better and the maturity period is advanced by 10 to 15 days. Using low concentrations of gibberellins on Kyoho grapes can increase berry weight and color the entire bunch. The most suitable spraying period is the young fruit stage (7 days after flowering), and the most suitable concentration is 20 mg/L.

3. Seedless treatment of grapes: Spray 400mg/L gibberellin solution on rose-scented grapes 10 days after flowering, and the seedless rate can reach 98%. About 14 days after the flowering of seedless grape varieties, using 100 mg/L concentration of gibberellin solution to quickly intoxicate the bunches can significantly increase the size of the berries, while other economic traits and commercial properties remain unchanged.

Tangerine:

Usage: Spray 50mg/L gibberellin solution once after the first early physiological fruit drop; or spray 50mg/L gibberellin solution once 7 days after flowering and after the first early physiological fruit drop and before the second physiological fruit drop.

Effect:

1. Reduce physiological fruit drop: When encountering high temperature and dry weather during the flowering and fruiting period, the use of gibberellins should be combined with proper watering of the orchard to improve the effect of preserving flowers and fruits. It can be mixed with cytokinins to increase the fruit retention rate during the first physiological fruit drop.

2. Preserving flowers and fruits: The appropriate time to use gibberellins for Wenzhou mandarin oranges should be to spray them in the late flowering period to the time when the flowers fade. When spraying, adding 0.2% urea, 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate and 0.2% borax to the gibberellins solution can improve the effect of preserving flowers and fruits.