However, artificially inducing plant defenses depletes energy and resources for other functions. It has been shown to consequently affect growth, reproductive processes, fruit and leaves (Redman et al. 2001; Koussevitzky et al. 2004). Treating plants with jasmonic acid has been shown to result in larger but fewer fruits and can alter amount of seeds produced and germination success (Redman et al. 2001). The treatment has been shown to increase the amount of polyphenol oxidase in chloroplasts (Koussevitzky et al. 2004). Excess polyphenol oxidase causes fruits and leaves to brown faster and the fruits to consist of more pigments, a sign of increased rate of cell death (Araji et al. 2014). Plants treated with jasmonic acid should be smaller than those not and show signs of poor health.
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