Abstract
Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using plant extracts offers a safe and attractive alternate to the chemical methods. The present work aims at preparing metal nanoparticles of rhus (Rhus coriaria L.) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) extracts using Fe2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ag+ ions. The water extracts were prepared, and the total polyphenols and flavonoids contents were determined. The safflower extract contained the highest number of total polyphenols and total flavonoids (87.20 mg GAE/g and 36.32 mg QE/g), respectively. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV–Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The studied extracts and their nanoparticles were evaluated as an antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents. The plant extracts and their nanoparticles showed significant antioxidant activity using (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS•+) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. Safflower silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were the most powerful antimicrobial agent compared to the other nanoparticles. The Sulforhodamine B (SRB) cytotoxic activity was evaluated against three cancer cell lines. The results revealed that CuNP safflower nanoparticles displayed the highest activity as anticancer agent with values (98.94% with T47D, 97.68% with HEPG2, and 89.33% against Caco-2). The data revealed that rhus and safflower extracts and their nanoparticles possess high potential activity as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer agents.
Highlights
The area of nanotechnology research is emerging as a cutting-edge technology with chemistry, physics, biology, material science, and medicine [1]
Of the FeNPs nanoparticles from safflower against S. aureus with an inhibition zone of 16.8 mm, According to the results presented in Table 1, the highest antibacterial activity was in the case of while the strongest antifungal agent was found in the safflower extract with an inhibition zone the FeNPs nanoparticles from safflower against S. aureus with an inhibition zone of 16.8 mm, while of 15.40 mm against Candida albicans (CA) strain
The evaluation of the antioxidants of the two extracts and their nanoparticles revealed that the safflower extract and its AgNPs had the highest trapping activity using the DPPH and ABTS+ assays
Summary
The area of nanotechnology research is emerging as a cutting-edge technology with chemistry, physics, biology, material science, and medicine [1]. The ecofriendly synthesis of metal nanoparticles using plant extracts was previously established by several studies [2,3]. Natural antioxidants, such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and lignans, have established a high level of consideration due to their unique benefits. Plants rich in these classes of compounds are perfect sources of natural antioxidants. Rhus and safflower were used as flavoring spice, traditional medicine, and food preservation [4]. Safflower compounds have antioxidant activity by scavenging of free radicals’ species, such as the superoxide anion (O2 − ) [6] and DPPH [7,8], Foods 2019, 8, 139; doi:10.3390/foods8040139 www.mdpi.com/journal/foods
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