Synthesis of gold nanoparticles using novel Eucalyptus tereticornis and their in-vitro antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer studies

Abstract

Development of biologically inspired experimental procedures for synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is an important branch of nanotechnology. Synthesis of NPs which are nontoxic, eco-friendly, inexpensive and having potential medicinal properties is challenging. In present study, gold NPs were produced from Eucalyptus tereticornis leaf extract (Et-AuNPs). The Et-AuNPs were confirmed using UV–Vis absorption study which shows surface plasmon resonance peak at 569 nm. Various characteristics of Et-AuNPs were demonstrated by characterisation techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy. It is found that prepared Et-AuNPs are well dispersed and spherical in shape. Significant anticancer effect on MCF-7 cell lines was observed in dose-dependent manner having IC50 value of 52.0 μg ml−1. Further antibacterial studies were carried out by disc-diffusion method, which revealed potential antibacterial activity of Et-AuNPs against pathogenic bacterial strains. Et-AuNPs also exhibited promising free radical scavenging efficiency performed by DPPH assay with IC50 values of 62.6 μg ml−1. The results suggest that green synthesised AuNPs can be exploited for clinical as well as pharmaceutical activities using nanomedicine approach in near future.