Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles from Artemisia sieberiand Calotropis procera Medical Plant Extracts and their Characterization using SEM Analysis

Silver Nanoparticles of Artemisia sieberi Extracts: Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activities

BACKGROUND

Artemisia sieberi (mugwort) is a member of the daisy family Asteraceae and is widely propagated in Saudi Arabia. A. sieberi has historical medical importance in traditional societies. The current study aimed to assess the antibacterial and antifungal characteristics of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of A. sieberi. In addition, the study investigated the effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized from the A. sieberi extract.

METHODS

The ethanolic and aqueous extracts and AgNPs were prepared from the shoots of A. sieberi. The characteristics of AgNPs were assessed by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The antibacterial experiments were performed against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The fungal species used were Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei, Candida famata, Candida rhodotorula, and Candida albicans. The antibacterial and antifungal characteristics were evaluated by measuring the diameter of growing organisms in Petri dishes treated with different concentrations of either extracts or AgNPs compared to the untreated controls. Furthermore, TEM imaging was used to investigate any ultrastructure changes in the microbes treated with crude extracts and AgNO₃.

RESULTS

The ethanolic and aqueous extracts significantly decreased the growth of E. coli, S. aureus, and B. subtilis (p < 0.001), while P. aeruginosa was not affected. Unlike crude extracts, AgNPs had more substantial antibacterial effects against all species. In addition, the mycelial growth of C. famata was reduced by the treatment of both extracts. C. krusei mycelial growth was decreased by the aqueous extract, while the growth of C. parapsilosis was affected by the ethanolic extract and AgNPs (p < 0.001). None of the treatments affected the growth of C. albicans or C. rhodotorula. TEM analysis showed cellular ultrastructure changes in the treated S. aureus and C. famata compared to the control.

CONCLUSION

The biosynthesized AgNPs and extracts of A. sieberi have a potential antimicrobial characteristic against pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains and nullified resistance behavior.

Khan A, M. Alamshany Z, Gull M, S. Azam E, A. Kosa S, Tahir Soomro M. Synthesis, Electrochemical and Antimicrobial Activity of Colloidal Copper Nanoparticles

ABSTRACT: The colloidal dispersion of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs), prepared by reducing Cu2+ ions using ascorbic acid, was characterized and used for electrochemical and antimicrobial activity investigations. By depositing CuNPs onto the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface the CuNPs/GCE was constructed, which was used to study electrochemical behavior of CuNPs and to carry out direct electrochemical detection of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in neutral medium. Excellent electrocatalytic ability of CuNPs, assessed by cyclic voltammetry (CV), for the reduction of TCA and 2-CP was detected. The electrochemical impedance analysis (EIS) of the GCE and CuNPs modified GCE evidenced higher charge transfer activity across the modified electrode surface. The antibacterial activity tests of as-synthesized CuNPs on the selected pathogenic strains of pathogenic strains of Salmonella group B (7.9±0.912), Klebsiella pneumonia (8.33±1.561), Escherichia Coli (15.65±1.612), Enterococcus faecalis (5.4±0.612), Staphylococcus aureus (12.6±1.531) and yeast Candida albicans (11.4.3±1.512), respectively, were performed. The results indicated that the use of CuNPs can be pursued as an alternative strategy (to antibiotics) for averting infections by controlling bacterial adhesion and bacterial bio-film formation against microbial infections.