BIOSYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF BULB OF ZEPHYRANTHES CITRINA

In the present study, an eco-friendly, cost-efficient, rapid and simple approach was applied to the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by using a methanolic extract of bulb of Zephyranthes citrina. The metal salt was reduced to ions by metabolites present in bulb extracts. The plant extracts acts both as a reducing agent as well as a capping agent. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by various spectral techniques like UV-Visible, FT-IR, SEM, EDAX and XRD analysis. Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by viewing the colour change of the extract from brown to blackish brown. The functional group which is responsible for the reduction of silver ions in the plant extract was characterized by FT-IR. UV-Visible spectrophotometer showed an absorbance peak at 277 nm for silver nanoparticles. The SEM image depicts the nanosized particles with morphological shape. The elemental composition was determined by EDAX analysis. The XRD results confirmed the crystal structure of the nanoparticles. The spectral data confirm the formation of nanoparticles with its size, morphological structure and chemical composition. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were also investigated for antibacterial activity against both gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis), gram-negative bacteria (Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Klebseilla pneumoniae) and antifungal (Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum) activities. The results revealed that silver nanoparticles exhibit good inhibition efficiency against representative microorganisms.