1. Overview

  Common English name: brassinolide 

　 Chinese alias: brassinolide, Shuofeng 481 

　 English alias: Brassins, BR, Kayaminori 

　 Pesticide category: Plant growth regulators 

　 Chemical category: Plant derived pesticides 

　 Appearance: White crystalline powder 

　 Solubility: The solubility in water is 5mg/kg, which is easily soluble in methanol, ethanol, chloroform, acetone, etc. It is stable when stored at room temperature 

　 PH value: 5.4 

　 Toxicity: Low toxicity to humans and animals. Acute oral LD50>2000mg/kg in rats, acute percutaneous LD50>2000mg/kg, and low fish toxicity. 

　 Other: From the production process, brassinolide can be divided into natural brassinolide and chemically synthesized brassinolide. Natural brassinolide is a plant extract, while chemically synthesized brassinolide is an industrial synthetic product 

2. Characteristics

　 2.1. Natural: A natural substance directly extracted from plant pollen and its derivatives using advanced directed enzyme lipid extraction technology, which is the sixth largest growth hormone secreted by plants themselves 

　 2.2. Stability: The latest production technology ensures stable quality for each batch, with multiple natural components to ensure stable performance under complex environmental conditions 

　 2.3. Safety: Derived from plants, used for plants, with no toxicity detected in FDA testing reports in the United States. It is the only regulatory product in China that has been certified as a green food production material and is highly safe for crops and food 

　 2.4. Rounded: It has multiple functions such as auxin, gibberellin, and cytokinin, and exhibits different regulatory effects in different crops and their growth stages

　 2.5. Potent: Its physiological activity is higher and stronger, and its usage concentration is more than 1000 times lower than other regulators. 

3. Dosage form

　 3.1. Preparation: 0.01% emulsion, 0.01% soluble powder, 0.0075% aqueous solution. 

　 3.2. Raw materials: 0.1% mother drug, 1.0% mother drug, 5.0% mother drug, customized special specifications (pharmaceutical grade and agricultural grade) according to customer requirements 

4. Application field

　 Agricultural production, medical and health products (only natural brassinolide can be used) 

5. Research background and efficacy

　 In 1970, American scientists isolated brassinosteroids from rapeseed pollen, but the cost was very high. Later, their crystal structure was studied, and it was confirmed to be a steroid substance. This is the latest plant growth regulator in nature, known as the sixth type of plant hormone. In 1982, it was synthesized in Japan as a replica. In the 1980s, the production process of natural brassinolide was transformed and produced by the Chaoyang Hormone Research Institute in Sichuan Province. Currently, it is the sixth generation plant extraction production process, and Shuofeng 481 is the first to be produced and applied in China. At the beginning of the 21st century, natural brassinolide, as an important component of the rapeseed pollen industry, was attracting attention from domestic and foreign medical institutions and has now been applied in the fields of medicine and health products. In 2012, the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China completed the establishment of industry standards for natural brassinolide, and natural brassinolide and artificially synthesized brassinolide began to be managed differently in terms of national policies.[1] 

  Natural brassinolide is harmless to humans and animals, pollution-free to the environment, and has a special role in the development of ecological agriculture and high-quality and high-yield.

　 Natural brassinolide is suitable for grain crops, economic crops, vegetables, and fruits, promoting growth and increasing yield. It has multiple functions such as strong rooting, growth promotion, seedling lifting, strong seedling, seedling preservation, yellow leaf disease turning green, promoting fertilization, flower and fruit preservation, promoting fruit enlargement and early ripening, reducing diseases and alleviating drug damage, coordinating nutritional balance, drought resistance, cold resistance, salt alkali resistance, and enhancing crop stress resistance. The first aid effect is significant for dead seedlings, rotting roots, standing withers, and sudden death caused by crop rotation, diseases, pesticide damage, freezing damage, salt damage, and other reasons. After 12-24 hours of application, the effect is obvious, reviving the dead and quickly restoring vitality. 

　 Natural brassinolide is a highly bioactive steroid compound that is widely present in plants. In various stages of plant growth and development, it can promote both nutritional growth and facilitate fertilization. The activity of the sixth generation natural brassinolide is 10-100 times higher than that of artificially synthesized brassinolide. It can be absorbed by the leaves, stems, and roots of plants and then transmitted to the affected parts. Some believe that it can increase the activity of RNA polymerase, increase RNA and DNA content, increase the potential difference of cell membrane and ATPase activity, and some believe that it can enhance the effect of auxin. There is currently no unified view on the mechanism of action. It acts at extremely low concentrations and is an efficient plant growth regulator. At very low concentrations, it can significantly increase the growth of plant nutrients and promote fertilization. 

　 Some physiological effects of natural brassinolide exhibit certain characteristics of auxin, gibberellin, and cytokinin: 

　 A. Promote cell division and fruit enlargement. It has a significant promoting effect on cell division, promoting both lateral and vertical growth of organs, thereby playing a role in expanding fruits. 

　 B. Delaying leaf aging, maintaining green for a long time, enhancing chlorophyll synthesis, improving photosynthesis, and promoting deepening of leaf color to turn green. 

　 C. Breaking the top advantage, promoting lateral bud germination, can penetrate the differentiation of buds, promote lateral branch generation, increase the number of branches and flowers, improve pollen fertility, and thereby increase fruit quantity and yield. 

　 D. Improve crop quality and increase commercialization. Inducing parthenocarpy, stimulating ovary enlargement, preventing flower and fruit drop, promoting protein synthesis, and increasing sugar content. 

6. Agricultural applications

  6.1 Advantages of Medication

  6.1.1. Safety, broad-spectrum, and efficiency 

　　Natural brassinolide is a new type of plant growth regulator that integrates nutritional regulation and prevention. It is suitable for all plants with vitality and can be used throughout their entire life cycle. Significant effects can be achieved in very small amounts. After more than 20 years of testing and promotion, natural brassinolide has not caused any drug harm or food safety accidents. 

　　After compounding with fertilizers and pesticides, the fertilizer (medicine) efficiency can be increased by more than 20%, and the fertilizer (medicine) dosage can be reduced by 15-30%, making the fertilizer (medicine) effect more magical. It enhances the crop's resistance to disease, deterioration, cold, drought, salt and alkali, lodging and other stress, significantly improving crop quality, making the grain of grain crops full, the leaves of vegetable crops thick, the flesh of eggplant and fruit crops plump, and the taste good. 

　　6.1.2. Non toxic and residue free 

　　Natural brassinolide is derived from rapeseed pollen and beeswax, and has high health value. It has been used in medicine and health products, and the FDA test report in the United States has not detected any toxicity. It is the only regulatory compound in China that has been certified as a green food production material. 

　　6.1.3 Has the function of regulating endogenous hormones in plants 

　　After being absorbed by plants, natural brassinolide can regulate and balance the internal distribution of gibberellin, cytokinin, ethylene, abscisic acid, auxin, etc. in plants, making them grow vigorously, robust, high-yield, and less prone to aging, prolonging the harvesting cycle of crops such as beans, chili peppers, and watermelons, and improving yield. 

　　6.1.4. Disease resistance and detoxification 

　　After being absorbed by plants, natural brassinolide can regulate the C/N ratio of plants, enabling them to develop disease resistance, make them robust, and enhance their stress resistance. It has the effect of detoxifying and restoring plant metabolic functions for plants that have suffered from drug damage, fertilizer damage, salt damage, or other natural disasters. 

　　6.1.5. Low dosage and convenient use: 

　　0.1% natural brassinolide mother drug is calculated per mu: (1) foliar spraying of 0.15-0.30 grams; (2) Spray 5.0-8.0 grams; (3) Compound fertilizer (base fertilizer, topdressing) 7.0-10g. During use, there is no need for complex production processes, whether it is foliar fertilizer, flushing fertilizer, solid fertilizer, liquid fertilizer, fungicides, etc., as long as they are added evenly. 

　　6.1.6 Broad and quick effects 

　　After using natural brassinolide, there is no need to add similar enhancers. It can take effect at temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius within 24 hours, and at temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius within 48 hours. 

6.2 Technical Use

  6.2.1. Mixing with fertilizers 　

  After compounding with foliar fertilizer, plants can absorb nutrients well, achieve quick results, reduce fertilizer damage, regulate nutrient balance, and improve fertilizer efficiency and fruit commercialization. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 7.5-15.0 ‰, which means adding 7.5-15.0 kilograms per ton of fertilizer, with a recommended concentration for field use of 0.01-0.02 ppm).

　　Combined with flushing fertilization and drip irrigation fertilizers, it can promote the development of crop roots, thick green and shiny leaves, thick and strong stems, enlarged fruits, fast speed, bright colors, and early release to the market. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 1.0-1.5 ‰, which means adding 1.0-1.5 kilograms per ton of fertilizer. It is recommended to use a concentration of 0.005-0.01ppm in the field.) 

  Combined with base fertilizer, it can reduce and promote the absorption and utilization of fertilizer by the root system, activate the demand of root cells for nutrients such as N, P, K, regulate nutrient balance, and improve the resistance of the root system. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 0.25-0.40 ‰, which means adding 250-400 grams per ton of fertilizer)

　　6.2.2. Mixing with fungicides (including viral agents) 

　　Natural brassinolide can enhance plant immunity, reduce pathogen infection, and enhance plant disease resistance. At the same time, when combined with fungicides, it increases its bactericidal function and has a significant effect within two days, reducing the harm of highly active fungicides such as tebuconazole and prochloraz. The efficacy lasts for about 20 days, increasing the efficacy by 30-60% and reducing the dosage by more than 10%. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 8-30 ‰, which means adding 8-30 kilograms of fungicide per ton. The recommended concentration for field use is 0.01ppm.) 

　　6.1.3. Combination with insecticides 

  Natural brassinolide can be used in combination with most insecticides, which not only broadens the drug spectrum, increases efficacy, and prevents pesticide damage during use, but also promotes the rapid recovery of affected plants through the regulation of natural brassinolide. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 1-5 ‰, which means adding 1-5 kilograms per ton of fungicide. The recommended concentration for field use is 0.01ppm.)

　　6.1.4. Mixing with seed coating agents 

  It still has a regulatory effect at low temperatures, can shorten the seed dormancy period, promote cell division, induce rooting, sprout, resist pathogen invasion, and make seedlings robust. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug 10-20 ‰, with 5-15 kilograms added per ton of fungicide, recommended for field use at a concentration of 0.5-1.0 ppm)

　　6.1.5. Combination or mixing with herbicides 

　　Natural brassinolide has the ability to increase crop metabolism, enhance crop resistance, and prevent and alleviate herbicide damage to crops. (Reference dosage of 0.1% brassinolide mother drug is 1-5 ‰, which means adding 1-5 kilograms per ton of fungicide. The recommended concentration for field use is 0.005-0.01ppm.) 

　　6.2.6. Single agent or combination with other chemical regulators to form water, soluble powder, emulsion 

　　Natural brassinolide can be made into water, soluble powder, and emulsion separately. Common dosage forms include 0.01% emulsion, 0.01% soluble powder, and 0.0075% water. The use of other chemical regulators can have a synergistic effect, reduce the dosage of chemical regulators, and improve the effectiveness and safety of the product.　 

　 1. Soaking wheat seeds in 0.05-0.5mg/kg solution for 24 hours has a significant promoting effect on root system and plant height. During the tillering stage, foliar treatment at this concentration can increase the number of tillers. During the pregnancy period of wheat, leaf spray with 0.01-0.05mg/kg solution has the most significant yield increase effect, which can generally increase the yield by 7% -15%. 

　　2. Spraying the whole plant of corn with 0.01mg/kg solution before tasseling can increase the yield by 20%, and the treatment after silking can also increase the 1000 grain weight. 

　　3. Other crops can also be used in the bud and young pod stages of rapeseed. Fruit flowering period, young fruit period, vegetable seedling period, and vigorous growth period; The yield increase effect of legumes during the flowering and young pod stages is very good. 

　　Attention: 1. Do not spray during rainy weather. If it rains within 6 hours after spraying, spray again. 

          2. It is best to spray after 3:00 pm. 

6.3. Addition methods in fertilizer production

　　When adding natural brassinolide to liquid fertilizer, first adjust the pH range of the liquid fertilizer to 5-9, then dissolve the natural brassinolide mother drug in warm water to prepare the original solution and add it to the fertilizer to prevent flocculation and precipitation. 

　　Solid fertilizers can be added without considering their acidity or alkalinity, but they must be mixed with 10-20 kilograms of plant material before being added, or dissolved in granulated water before being added, depending on the actual situation. 

6.4. Relationship between natural brassinolide and fertilizer

　　Many people often consider natural brassinolide as a foliar fertilizer, but in fact, natural brassinolide is not foliar fertilizer, but a highly efficient plant growth regulator. Its main function is to regulate plant growth without directly supplementing nutrients. Therefore, natural brassinolide cannot replace the function of fertilizer. 

　　When natural brassinolide is used in practice, its concentration can be increased by 50-100 times compared to foliar spraying, root application or irrigation, because natural brassinolide will be fixed or lost by the soil in the roots, resulting in low utilization efficiency.