In the years 1925-1930, the properties and effects of ethylene gas were discovered, as well as the applications of ethylene in life, production, and industry.
Ethylene gas is a natural growth substance, not only ripening fruits and promoting early ripening of many types of fruits, but also stimulating early germination of potatoes, causing pineapples to flower out of season, causing leaf drop in some types of trees…
So, what exactly are the specific applications of ethene?
Discovery of the characteristic properties of ethene gas
Although it was known that a certain amount of ethene gas is released into the surrounding environment when fruit ripens, this was precisely determined in 1993.
Only after using highly sensitive measuring instruments and gas chromatographs did the measurement data prove that ethene is produced not only in ripening fruits, but also during seed germination, flowering, and leaf senescence.
The formula of ethene is C2H4, also known as ethylene.
Ethene gas is also produced from wounds on plants, when you cut leaves from the stem, when you break or damage the intact structure of the fruit…
For example, if you cut potatoes or fruits into many pieces, the ethylene gas produced can increase tenfold compared to when the fruit is kept whole. Treating plants with auxins (2,4D, NAA…) significantly increases the amount of ethylene released into the environment.
> See more: What is ethylene gas, is it toxic?
So, how has ethene been applied in life, and in which fields is ethene used?
Specific applications of ethene:
Below are some applications of ethene in daily life, industry, and production that we need to know.
Applications of ethene in agriculture:
- Ethene gas has the property of stimulating the growth of plant cells, so it is applied for this purpose. It also stimulates flowering, ethene ripens fruits, and stimulates fruit ripening in fruit trees.
- Moreover, ethene stimulates germination in potatoes and seeds.
- In addition, ethene is used to ripen fruits faster and more uniformly compared to other methods like using calcium carbide.
- Ethene induces off-season flowering in pineapples.
- One of the important applications of ethene is rubber tapping. Ethene gas is also used to harvest latex in trees that produce latex, such as rubber trees, pine trees, and sterculia trees, increasing efficiency and quality. This is also considered a major application of ethene.
> Efficient technique for tapping rubber latex using ethylene gas
Below are some other applications of ethene gas to promote fruit ripening:
Ethene gas ripens fruits quickly because ethene is one of the substances involved in the natural fruit ripening process. Ethene is a gaseous plant hormone, formed within the plant, that stimulates fruit cell respiration and accelerates the ripening of green fruits.
Application of ethene in biology to ripen tomatoes:
♦ Green tomatoes are placed in sealed containers with a quantity of 50-80 kg of fruit per 1m3 of space.
♦ Ethene gas is added to the container daily at a rate of 0.5 liters/m3. The temperature is maintained at 20-22 degrees Celsius and the air humidity at 85%.
♦ Tomatoes will ripen to a uniform red color in 5-6 days instead of the normal 10-12 days.
♦ The entire tomato plant can be sprayed with an ethylene solution at a concentration of 0.03-0.1%, at a rate of 0.9-1.8 kg of ethylene per hectare, to make the fruit ripen 1-2 weeks earlier.
♦ Spraying is done 15-20 days before the normal harvest period, when 5-30% of the tomatoes are pink.
This technique of using C2H4 gas increases the commercial quality and gives the fruit a more beautiful color. If farmers harvest by hand, the number of harvests can be reduced from 5-6 times to 2-3 times because the fruit ripens uniformly.
Effect of ethene in sweet pepper care:
♦ Under field conditions, treatment with 0.01-0.03% ethylene solution is typically done 3 times, starting when the new fruits are formed, once a week.
♦ Sweet peppers develop well, have early fruit coloring, and the number of ripe fruits harvested in one batch doubles compared to normal.
Application of ethene to promote uniform apple ripening:
♦ Similarly, to promote uniform apple ripening and increase commercial value, a mixture of ethrel (400mg/l) and NAA (10mg/l) is sprayed 16 days before harvest.
Effect of ethene on citrus trees:
♦ Spraying grapefruit and oranges at a concentration of 0.035% has a significant effect, or using a lower concentration (0.005-0.01%) for mandarins.
In addition to the applications of ethene in agriculture mentioned above, Ethene gas (C2H4) is also widely used in industry.
Applications of ethene in industry:
- Ethene gas is widely used in the chemical industry to synthesize polyethylene, used for the production of plastics, fibers, and organic chemicals.
Reputable ethene gas supplier:
MIG Co., Ltd. is proud to be a leading company specializing in supplying reputable, high-quality ethene gas. In addition, we also supply gases such as: helium, SF6 gas, mixed gas,…
- With many years of experience in the industrial gas field, we train our staff according to the correct procedures, from consulting staff to delivery staff, to provide you with peace of mind about our products and services.
- Professional and enthusiastic after-sales customer service.
- Our dedicated staff is always ready to meet your needs
Mig is proud to be the best choice for pure industrial gas for our customers. For advice and price quotes on ethene gas, please contact MIGCO directly.
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