| Abstract: | Seventeen new bioregulators were synthesized and tested for their ability to induce the biosynthesis of poly-cis carotenes in the flavedo of Marsh white seedless grapefruit. The effects of these new bioregulators are the same as that of the previously reported dibenzylamines, but several of the new compounds are more effective and cause the accumulation of up to 162 μg/g dry wt of poly-cis carotenes in the flavedo as compared to the maximum of 74 μg/g dry wt observed previously. The compounds tested were substituted N-benzyl furfurylamines, N-benzyl, N-methyl furfurylamines and N-alkyl, N-methyl benzylamines. They demonstrate the ability of tertiary as well as secondary amines to stimulate the formation of poly-cis carotenes. The interaction of N-(4-bromobenzyl) furfurylamine, one of the more effective of the new compounds, with lycopene and β-carotene inducers is also reported. |
