Abstract
The study was undertaken to investigate the antioxidant, genotoxic, and cytotoxic potentialities of phyto-fabricated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) from Ipomoea obscura (L.) Ker Gawl. aqueous leaf extract. The UV-visible spectral analysis of the ZnO-NPs showed an absorption peak at 304 nm with a bandgap energy of 3.54 eV, which are characteristics of zinc nanoparticles. Moreover, the particles were of nano-size (~24.26 nm) with 88.11% purity and were agglomerated as observed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The phyto-fabricated ZnO-NPs offered radical scavenging activity (RSA) in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 of 0.45 mg mL−1. In addition, the genotoxicity studies of ZnO-NPs carried out on onion root tips revealed that the particles were able to significantly inhibit the cell division at the mitotic stage with a mitotic index of 39.49%. Further, the cytotoxic studies on HT-29 cells showed that the phyto-fabricated ZnO-NPs could arrest the cell division as early as in the G0/G1 phase (with 92.14%) with 73.14% cells showing early apoptotic symptoms after 24 h of incubation. The results of the study affirm the ability of phyto-fabricated ZnO-NPs from aqueous leaf extract of I. obscura is beneficial in the cytotoxic application.
Highlights
Nanotechnology is a multidimensional discipline that has the potential to transform all the fields of science
Different methods have been employed for the synthesis of nanoparticles, of which the hydrothermal method is one of the alternatives to the synthetic methods, as it is simple, cost-effective, eco-friendly, and less hazardous [7,8,9]
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have gained more attention compared to other metal–oxide nanoparticles because of their broader applications in scientific fields, including biological applications [8,10,11]
Summary
Nanotechnology is a multidimensional discipline that has the potential to transform all the fields of science. In light of the environmental and biological risks due to the toxicity of used chemicals in synthetic metal–oxide nanoparticles, biologically synthesized nanoparticles have gained considerable importance as they are considered to be stable, eco-friendly, and possess biological properties [3,4,5,6]. Different methods have been employed for the synthesis of nanoparticles, of which the hydrothermal method is one of the alternatives to the synthetic methods, as it is simple, cost-effective, eco-friendly, and less hazardous [7,8,9]. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have gained more attention compared to other metal–oxide nanoparticles because of their broader applications in scientific fields, including biological applications [8,10,11]. Apart from microorganisms, plant extracts have been used as reducing or capping agents as these play a pivotal and versatile role during the synthesis of nanoparticles, which are essential for their functions and applications in various fields [7,12,13,14]
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