S. Prylutska¹*, T. Tkachenko¹, M. Petrovsky²

¹National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
²Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine.
*e-mail: psvit_1977@ukr.net

Received: 21 February 2025; Revised: 25 March 2025;
Accepted: 25 April 2025; Available on-line: 12 May 2025

Extreme climatic conditions, pests, diseases and environmental pollution significantly impact the cultivation of agricultural products and the quality of plant raw materials. It is assumed that nanostructured carbon materials, particularly fullerene C₆₀, due to antioxidant, antiviral, and antibacterial properties can be used to prevent these effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of pre-sowing treatment of wheat seeds with fullerene C₆₀ on the state of plants 14 days after germination. The seeds of the winter wheat Triticum aestivum L. of the Patras and Akter varieties were treated with a colloidal solution of fullerene C₆₀ (0.1-1.0 µg/ml) for 3 h. Biomorphometric parameters, photosynthetic pigments, phenolic compounds, MDA content and catalase activity were assessed using standard techniques. It was shown that seeds treatment with fullerene C₆₀ was followed by the greater increase of both the fresh weight of Akter plants and shoot length of Patras plants as compared to untreated controls. A dose-dependent effect of fullerene C₆₀ on the physiological and bio­chemical parameters of the plants was revealed. Photosynthetic activity in plants of both wheat varieties was enhanced after seed treatment with C₆₀ in low (0.1-0.2 µg/ml) concentrations as evidenced by the increased content of chlorophylls a, while at high (0.5-1.0 µg/ml) C₆₀ concentrations it decreased against the background of increased carotenoids content. The enhancement of antioxidant defense induced by C₆₀ treatment at concentrations of 0.5-1.0 µg/ml was observed, as indicated by an increase in the content of phenolic compounds and activation of catalase. The positive effect of wheat seeds treatment with fullerene C₆₀ indicates the potential use of carbon nanoparticles in agrobiotechnologies to improve plant growth and stress resistance­.