Buckminsterfullerene (060 carbon allotrope) inhibits ethylene evolution from 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid (acc)-treated shoots of pea (pisum sativum), broadbean (vicia fabo) and flowers of carnation (dianthus caryophyllus)

When applied either in the form of a colloidal solution or in liposomes, buckyballs (C-60—buckminsterfullerene) markedly reduced ethylene evolution from cut carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) flowers, as well as from pea (Pisum sativum) and broadbean (Vicia faba) foliage treated with ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1 -carboxylic acid (ACC). The liposome preparation was approximately twice as effective as colloidal solutions. Moreover, upon being incubated in a closed atmosphere with ethylene, buckyballs induced a significant depletion of ambient ethylene which was temperature and C-60—concentration dependent. This mode of C-60 action is attributed to ethylene adsorption stemming from the vast C-60 surface area, calculated to be 1317 m2 g-1, and the affinity of its carbon atoms for the n component in the ethylene double bond.