New Plant Growth Regulator Thins Stone Fruit and Apples

Posted by Growing Produce Staff|July 2, 2021

Valent BioSciences LLC announces EPA registration of a new plant growth regulator (PGR), which will be marketed under the brand name Accede, utilizing the active ingredient 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC).

Accede is the first PGR based on a naturally occurring compound developed specifically for thinning of stone fruit, including peaches and nectarines. It also gives apple growers an effective tool to thin apples in the late thinning window when fruit are 15 mm to 20 mm in diameter. According to Valent BioSciences, until now, no fruit thinner has provided reliable thinning at this stage of development. Use of Accede will reduce the need for costly hand thinning to adjust the crop load and generate higher fruit quality and grower returns.

ACC occurs naturally in plants. Once applied to the crop, the active ingredient in Accede is quickly converted to ethylene using the plant’s natural biochemical pathways. The ethylene generated after application of Accede stimulates and accelerates flower and fruit drop in apples and stone fruit.

Accede does not leave ACC residues at harvest, as it is rapidly broken down in plants. The product was classified as a biochemical by the EPA in 2015. The technology in Accede is covered by numerous patents.

“This game-changing plant growth regulator will revolutionize the way tree fruit growers manage their crop loads,” Dr. Warren Shafer, Vice President of Global Research and Development and Regulatory Affairs at Valent BioSciences, says. “Its registration in the U.S. is the culmination of more than a decade of research and development collaboration between Valent BioSciences, Valent U.S.A. LLC, and our parent company, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. We are proud to bring this unique, effective biorational product to market and help growers realize its tremendous benefits.”