Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles through green caviar Caulerpa lentillifera and its phytotoxicity on Allium ascolanicum

Abstract

Caulerpa lentillifera, one of the edible marine seaweeds, was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in this study. According to the results, optimum conditions such as initial biomass concentration, AgNO3 concentration, pH, temperature, agitation rate for the synthesis of AgNPs by using C. lentillifera were 0.01 g/mL, 8 mM AgNO3, pH 10, 85 °C and 0 rpm, respectively. The calculated particle sizes of the synthesized AgNPs were 22.3 nm. The characterizations of synthesized AgNPs were carried out through UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FT-IR and XRD. The development shoot and root of shallot (Allium ascalonicum) experiments were tested to evaluate the phytotoxicity of synthesized C. lentillifera-based AgNPs. The phytotoxic effect of C. lentillifera-based AgNPs was found to be dose dependent. Since the phytotoxicity of the AgNPs synthesized in the study is evaluated, its industrial applications in the food, medicine, pharmacy and agriculture industries can be further considered based on the usage doses.