Phyto- and biochemical study on cape gooseberry (physalis peruviana L.) extract incorporated with metal nanoparticles against hepatic injury induced in rats

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the role of metal nanoparticles (M-NPs) in improving the efficiency of Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry) juice, which is rich in numerous important therapeutic phytochemicals. Therefore, it was subsequently studied against chemically-induced toxicity in rats. The present study demonstrated that C. gooseberry juice was used for the biosynthesis of silver (Ag-NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). The ZnO-C. gooseberry nano-extract exhibited higher in vitro biological activities compared to the other extracts. It was also found to be safer when administered orally. Moreover, it demonstrated a greater ameliorative effect against hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats. It restored the integrity of the liver tissue by increasing levels of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the inflammatory markers significantly (p ≤ 0.05). The study found that the ZnO-C. gooseberry nano-extract demonstrated greater efficacy in combating CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity compared to the other extracts.