Abstract

The synthesis of nanoparticles by environmentally friendly, cost-effective and simple methods has been the subject of much research in medicine and industry. In particular, it offers a promising approach for the development of next-generation nano-based drugs. This study synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using Erica arborea (E. arborea) leaf extract as a stabilizing and reducing agent. The prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by UV-vis, FTIR and SEM-EDX analysis. SEM-EDX analysis showed that the nanoparticles were spherical in shape and showed strong signals of zinc metal. UV-vis analysis confirmed that the color of the solution changed to light yellow, indicating the formation of nanoparticles, and exhibited an absorption peak at 350 nm. FT-IR confirmed that the formation of nanoparticles was accompanied by metabolites of the leaf extract. The pharmacological potential of zinc nanoparticles synthesized by E. arborea was evaluated by antioxidant (DPPH method), antimicrobial (disk diffusion method) and lipid peroxidation (TBA method) activities. The biosynthesized ZnO NPs exhibited better antioxidant activity compared to the plant extract. The IC50 values of DPPH radical scavenging activity of ZnO NPs and leaf extract were 18.71±0.35 and 9.21±0.10, respectively. The lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity IC50 value of ZnO NPs was found to be 5.33±0.09. ZnO NPs were found to be sensitive against pathogenic bacteria P. aeruginosa, B. cereus, B. subtilis and S. aureus and fungal strain C. albicans. The findings suggest that synthesizing naturally synthesized zinc nanoparticles could be an alternative agent to physical and chemical methods. In addition, the pharmacological activity of nanoparticles will contribute to next-generation drug development studies.

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