[Comparative observations of the behavior of ethephon in fruit, coffee and paprika]

After application of Flordimex to soft and stone fruit for fruit abscission and acceleration of ripening obvious Ethephon residues have been found. Therefore, the dose rate has to be restricted to keep the maximum residue limit. The same is true for the use of Flordimex for fruit abscission in apples, whereas for yield regulation residues are far below 0.05 mg/kg in apples. A typical feature of the active ingredient is the large quantity of its residues in juice and wine, which is as high as Ethephon concentration in fruits or even higher. Finally, Ethephon is demonstrated to enter the pulp of bananas, mandarin, grapefruit and mango as a result of treating harvested tropical fruit. The residue situation after treatment of pineapple, sweet pepper and coffee is discussed.