Abstract
Bee pollens are rich source of essential amino acids and are often considered as complete food for human beings. Herein, we exploited the potential reducing abilities of Bee pollens extract for the eco-friendly preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-G). The resulting NPs were characterized using a combination of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The analyses confirm the formation of spherical Ag NPs. AgNPs-G obtained from the aqueous extract of bee pollens was used to study their antibacterial properties against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microbes using the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration 50 (MIC50) method. The antibacterial properties of AgNPs-G were compared to the properties of chemically synthesized Ag NPs (AgNPs-C) using sodium borohydride as a reducing agent. The green synthesized nanoparticles (AgNPs-G) exhibited a better antibacterial activity against most of the studied strains when compared to the chemically synthesized Ag NPs (AgNPs-C). In addition, the anti-cancer activity of Ag NPs was also studied against human liver and breast carcinoma cell lines by applying MTT-assay. The Ag NPs demonstrated considerable anticancer activity against the studied cell lines and exhibited high IC50 values in both MCF-7 and HepG2 cell lines.
Highlights
The trend of exploiting the antioxidant properties of extracts of various natural products for the preparation of nanomaterials has gained considerable popularity [1]
Ag NPs were prepared under eco-friendly conditions by the reduction of AgNO3 in water using carried out without using any harmful reducing or stabilizing agents, since the bee pollen extract not the bee pollen aqueous extract as a reducing agent
On adding the pollen carried out without using any harmful reducing or stabilizing agents, since the bee pollen extract extract to AgNO3 solution, the color of the reaction mixture slowly turned to dark brown which reduced and functionalized the surface of the resultant Ag NPs
Summary
The trend of exploiting the antioxidant properties of extracts of various natural products for the preparation of nanomaterials has gained considerable popularity [1]. Silver has gained the significant consideration of scientists and technologists because of Processes 2020, 8, 524; doi:10.3390/pr8050524 www.mdpi.com/journal/processes. Ag NPs-based materials have garnered several potential biomedical applications due to their strong biocompatibility, high efficiency, easy availability and low cost [3]. These types of NPs possess strong bactericidal and inhibitory properties against various microbes [4]. Rampant applications of Ag NPs in different fields have significantly enhanced the demand for their preparation.
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