Gibberellin Delays Ripening of Tomatoes

Treatment with gibberellic acid, at concentrations as low as 10(-7)M, of intact tomato fruits, or of pieces in tissue culture, markedly retarded ripening in terms of development of redness. Ethylene stimulations of color development were prevented by treatment with gibberellic acid, but ethylene stimulations of respiration were not. Gibberellin can delay the progress of some components of the ripening of fruit, preventing some of the changes triggered by ethylene.