TDZ: anti-ageing cream for flowers

Scientists state a new chemical can add up to a month to the life of cut flowers and potted plants. But what exactly is TDZ? And is it innocuous to use?

In a development that could make manufacturers of anti-ageing creams jealous, scientists state they have discovered a spray that can add up to a month to the life of cut flowers and potted plants in bloom. A swift spritz with a solution containing a synthetic chemical called thidiazuron, or “TDZ”, can delay the withering process. A team of international researchers, working for the US Department of Agriculture and led by Dr Cai-Zhong Jiang, a plant physiologist at the University of California-Davis, has been experimenting with methods to forestall the natural ageing process in plants – called “senescence” – and have found that TDZ, when added to water in concentrations of five-10 parts per million, can achieve “significant, sometimes spectacular, effects”. The ideal results have been reached with cyclamens, which lived “more than a month longer” when treated with TDZ.

But what exactly is TDZ? And is it innocuous to spray around our homes? TDZ is a synthetic version of a plant hormone known as a “cytokinin”. At higher concentrations, TDZ is used as a defoliant by farmers – in particular, by cotton farmers because it causes plants to drop their leaves so that mechanical harvesters can more easily collect their fluffy bolls. The US Environmental Protection Bureau (EPA) states that TDZ is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans”. But when used on cotton, the EPA has found “some potential ecological risks”, with concern for small mammals foraging on short grass, small insects, and “terrestrial and semi-aquatic plants”. Florists might want to delay their enthusiasm until the test results are in.

Originally posted here:
TDZ: anti-ageing cream for flowers