Ethylene can promote the synthesis of RNA and protein, increase the permeability of higher plant cell membrane and accelerate respiration. Therefore, when the ethylene content in fruit increases, the synthesized auxin can be decomposed by enzymes in plants or external light, which further promotes the transformation of organic matter and accelerates maturity.

Ethylene is an endogenous hormone in plants, which is produced in leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruits, tubers, seeds, seedlings and other parts of higher plants under certain conditions. It is the smallest molecule in plant hormones, and its physiological function is mainly to promote the expansion of fruits and cells. Grain maturity can promote the shedding of leaves, flowers and fruits, induce flower bud differentiation, break dormancy, promote germination, inhibit flowering and organ shedding, dwarf plants and promote the formation of adventitious roots.

Ethylene is a kind of gas, which is difficult to be applied in the field. It was not until ethephon was developed that it provided practical ethylene plant growth regulators for agriculture. The main products are ethephon, ethylene silicon, glyoxime, metronidazole, dephosphorization phosphine and cyclohexylimide, all of which can release ethylene or promote plants to produce ethylene, so they are collectively called ethylene releasing agents. At present, only ethephon is most commonly used at home and abroad, which is widely used in fruit ripening, defoliation before cotton harvest, boll cracking and boll opening, rubber latex secretion, rice dwarfing, increasing female flowers in melons and promoting pineapple flowering.

Several ethylene plant growth regulators can regulate plant growth by inhibiting ethylene synthesis in plants, which are called ethylene synthesis inhibitors.