Green Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles using Foeniculum Vulgare Seed Extract and Evaluation of their Biological Activities

Abstract

Abstract: Copper nanoparticles are gaining popularity due to their multifarious properties and use in medicine, industry, and research. An extract of Foeniculum vulgare seed is used to green synthesize copper nanoparticles. The produced NPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, X-ray Diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The absorption spectra at 570nm indicated the reduction of copper metal and the effective production of CuNPs. Its absorbance peak at 3345.3cm-1 and 1638.2cm-1 shows the existence of the N-H group and C=C stretching, as well as secondary amines (-NH-). CuNPs with a size range of 84-140nm were found to be spherical in SEM at 50kX magnification. XRD micrograph revealed a face-centered cubic structure with 19.97nm crystalline size. CuNPs showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, Salmonella enterica ATCC14028, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, with ZOI ranging from 22 to 39mm. The results of the DPPH assay showed that CuNPs exhibit promising antioxidant properties, with an IC50 of 14.372 µg/ml. CuNPs had IC50 values of 4.341µg/ml for alpha-amylase and 3.37µg/ml for alpha-glucosidase, respectively. The IC50 of CuNPs from fennel seed extract was 4.1µg/ml, showing that CuNPs have anti-hyperlipidemic potential and can be utilized to treat hyperglycemia. This study found that green-synthesized CuNPs have numerous therapeutic applications in the medical and biotechnological domains.