Abstract: The present study was conducted on isolated flowers of Ranunculus asiaticus L. to assess the effect of different ethylene antagonists: Silver Thiosulphate (STS) and Aminooxyacetic Acid (AOA) on the postharvest performance. Uniform floral buds (at half open stage) of R. asiaticus were pulse treated for 1 h with different concentrations of STS and AOA (0.25 and 0.5 mM) and transferred to Distilled Water (DW) to compare the treatment effects. One set of buds was kept unpulsed which represented control. Pretreatment of flowers with either STS or AOA at any concentration was not found to be effective in delaying senescence and enhancing the postharvest life. It is therefore, suggested that ethylene plays little or no role in senescence in isolated flowers of R. asiaticus. The overall strategy of petal senescence in R. asiaticus is initial wilting followed by ethylene-independent abscission at later stages. The study also recommends that ethylene sensitivity and patterns of flower senescence should not be assigned to plants at the family level on the basis of response of a few representative members.