Rumex nervosus mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles and evaluation of its in vitro antibacterial, and cytotoxic activity

Abstract

In the present study, we have reported the low-cost, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Rumex nervosus (Rn) leaf extract. The biological synthesis of Rn-AgNPs employing plant extracts has become an optimistic substitute for the conventional chemical method of synthesis. Initially, the synthesis of Rn-AgNPs was explained by the optical study of the color change in the mixture. The biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, FTIR analysis, EDX, zeta potential, and DLS. TEM revealed that most of the Rn-AgNPs are spherical/oblong in shape with the average particle size falling in the range of 20-70 nm. The green synthesized Rn-AgNPs showed potent antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against the gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. The cytotoxicity assays of as-formed AgNPs exhibited minimal toxicity to human RBCs and PBMCs. Hence, these nanoparticles are considered non-toxic for use as drugs in biomedicine.