Dormancy in plants is a process that corresponds to a state of temporary metabolic inactivity, which is an adaptive process that enables the plants to successfully survive periods of cold in winter. During this period, the plants produce growth inhibitors in their foliage and the plants stop growing, they enter a rest period in order to save energy, and there is no photosynthesis or plant respiration occurs during this time. This process does not harm the plants but merely "puts them to sleep".

When better growing conditions come around, the plants are supposed to become active again. However, the fundamental needs for cold in order to return to the normal growth process are often not met and this can cause an irregular break in dormancy. All of this causes significant delays in harvests, affects heterogeneity in size and fruit-ripening, compromising the quality of production.

The chemical products used nowadays to anticipate, increase and homogenise the budding are based on reproducing the effects of the cold, which inhibits the catalase enzyme. The best-known active substance is Hydrogen Cyanamide, however its use has been prohibited in the past few years due to its high toxicity and risk to the applicator.