The effect of exogenous phenolic carboxylic acids (ferulic, gallic, salicylic, acetylsalicylic, and p-coumaric) on the content of brassinosteroids (BS) (groups of brassinolide, 24-epibrassinolide, 28-homobrassinolide, B-lactone, B-ketone, and B-deoxo derivatives) in the early stages of triticale plant development was studied. It has been shown that the steroid–hormonal status of plants changes when treated with phenolic acids (the content of almost all BS decreases per unit of plant mass) and depends on the structure of the acid used and its concentration. It was found that, 14 days after treatment, all the acids studied lead to an increase in growth (by 6–10%) and a significant increase in the weight of seedlings compared to the control. The most active at concentrations of 10–7 and 10–9 M were ferulic (an increase in raw weight by 38–47%) and acetylsalicylic acid (40–43%), as well as gallic acid at a concentration of 10–7 M (50%). Changes caused by the regulatory action of phenolic acids may have direct significance for assessing the adaptive potential of plants and subsequent bioregulatory correction in agricultural technologies.
Litvinovskaya et al. (Sun,) studied this question.