Green fabrication of silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of tropical vine Momordica charantia: spectral characterization and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation on human breast cancer cells

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of environmental materials such as plant extract for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) offers numerous benefits of eco-friendliness and compatibility for pharmaceutical and other biomedical Applications. In this study, we used Momordica charantia leaf extract as a reducing agent for the synthesis of AgNPs. Characterization of the AgNPs was done by UV-Visible Spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, TEM and EDX. Furthermore, we established the in vitro anticancer efficacy of these nanoparticles against the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 using MTT assay, nuclear morphology testing, and staining. In addition to the above, the anti-bacterial effect was also tested against a range of bacterial isolates using well-diffusion method. These AgNPs also demonstrated impressive results when tested for their free-radical scavenging efficiency on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, indicating future potential for their use in medicine. These findings indicated the possible applicability of biosynthesized AgNPs derived from Momordica charantia L.