Abstract
Abstract Background Fullerenol (C 60 (OH) 12–42 ), a water‐soluble carbon‐based fullerene derivative, is recognized for its stress‐mitigating potential; however, systematic and comparable evidence regarding its dose‐ and application‐dependent effects on plant growth and development remains limited. In this study, fullerenol was first characterized, and its antifungal activity against five phytopathogenic fungi was assessed. Subsequently, increasing fullerenol concentrations were administered to safflower plants through foliar spraying and root nutrient solutions, and physiological responses were evaluated after 7 days. Results Fullerenol showed effective functionalization and solvent‐dependent absorption properties, while zeta potential and dynamic light scattering analyses confirmed moderate colloidal stability. Strong, concentration‐dependent antifungal activity was detected, particularly against Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum , highlighting its promise as a selective antifungal agent. High concentrations administered via nutrient solution markedly inhibited plant growth and relative water content, increased ion leakage, and reduced pigment levels, including carotenoids. These doses also slightly impaired photosystem II (PSII) structural and functional integrity and restricted electron transport, with high‐dose foliar applications producing even stronger negative effects. In contrast, low‐dose foliar treatments enhanced plant growth by increasing shoot length and significantly improved photosynthetic performance by strengthening exciton energy capture, oxygen‐evolving complex activation, and electron transport. OJIP chlorophyll a fluorescence kinetics and JIP test parameters demonstrated that these benefits were most pronounced at 10 mg L −1 fullerenol. Conclusion Overall, the results reveal that low‐concentration foliar fullerenol application enhances photosynthetic efficiency and promotes plant development, supporting its potential as a biostimulant for agricultural use. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Fullerenol had concentration dependent antifungal activity, especially against Fusarium oxysporum.
- Taxon
- Fusarium oxysporum
_(Fusarium_oxysporum_f.sp._batatas)_1234227-PPT-Clemson_University.jpg?width=60)
Fusarium oxysporume0 - Interactor
- Fusarium oxysporumFusarium oxysporume0pathogen
- Outcome
- antifungal activitye0
- Direction
- concentration‐dependente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_(Fusarium_oxysporum_f.sp._batatas)_1234227-PPT-Clemson_University.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Strong, concentration‐dependent antifungal activity was detected, particularly against Fusarium oxysporum”
Claim · model-written summary
Fullerenol had concentration dependent antifungal activity, especially against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
- Taxon
- Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Sclerotinia sclerotiorume0 - Interactor
- Sclerotinia sclerotiorumSclerotinia sclerotiorume0pathogen
- Outcome
- antifungal activitye0
- Direction
- concentration‐dependente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Strong, concentration‐dependent antifungal activity was detected, particularly against Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum”
Claim · model-written summary
Fullerenol showed effective functionalization and solvent dependent absorption.
- Outcome
- effective functionalization and solvent‐dependent absorption propertiese0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Fullerenol showed effective functionalization and solvent‐dependent absorption properties”
Claim · model-written summary
Fullerenol had moderate colloidal stability.
- Outcome
- moderate colloidal stabilitye0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“confirmed moderate colloidal stability”
Claim · model-written summary
High root supplied fullerenol inhibited plant growth.
- Taxon
- safflower
Carthamus tinctoriust0 - Treatment
- High concentrations administered via nutrient solutione0
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
- Direction
- inhibitede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“High concentrations administered via nutrient solution markedly inhibited plant growth”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
High root supplied fullerenol inhibited relative water content.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- High concentrations administered via nutrient solutione0
- Outcome
- relative water contente0
- Direction
- inhibitede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“High concentrations administered via nutrient solution markedly inhibited plant growth and relative water content”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
High root supplied fullerenol increased ion leakage.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- High concentrations administered via nutrient solutione0
- Outcome
- ion leakagee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“High concentrations administered via nutrient solution markedly inhibited plant growth and relative water content, increased ion leakage”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
High root supplied fullerenol reduced pigment levels.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- High concentrations administered via nutrient solutione0
- Outcome
- pigment levelse0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“High concentrations administered via nutrient solution markedly inhibited plant growth and relative water content, increased ion leakage, and reduced pigment levels, including carotenoids”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
High doses slightly impaired PSII integrity and restricted electron transport.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- These dosese0
- Outcome
- photosystem II (PSII) structural and functional integritye0
- Direction
- impairede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These doses also slightly impaired photosystem II (PSII) structural and functional integrity and restricted electron transport”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
High dose foliar application caused stronger negative effects.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- high‐dose foliar applicationse0
- Outcome
- negative effectse0
- Direction
- strongere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“high‐dose foliar applications producing even stronger negative effects”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
Low dose foliar treatment increased shoot length.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- low‐dose foliar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- shoot lengthe0
- Direction
- increasinge0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“low‐dose foliar treatments enhanced plant growth by increasing shoot length”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
Low dose foliar treatment improved photosynthetic performance through exciton capture, oxygen evolving complex activation and electron transport.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Treatment
- low‐dose foliar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- photosynthetic performancee0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“low‐dose foliar treatments enhanced plant growth by increasing shoot length and significantly improved photosynthetic performance by strengthening exciton energy capture, oxygen‐evolving complex activation, and electron transport”
t0“in safflower”
Claim · model-written summary
Benefits were most pronounced at 10 mg L −1 fullerenol.
- Taxon
- safflowerCarthamus tinctoriust0
- Outcome
- benefitse0
- Direction
- most pronouncede0
- Value
- 10 mg L −1e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“benefits were most pronounced at 10 mg L −1 fullerenol”
t0“in safflower”
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See all 14 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.