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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2025)

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with Hypericum wightianum : Characterization and evaluation of its antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity and toxicity assessment on Artemia salina

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.9740
Submitted
31 May 2025
Published
19-08-2025 — Updated on 22-08-2025
Versions

Abstract

In the present study, in vitro H. wightianum plant extract was used for the phytosynthesis of AgNPs. It was observed that the reduction of aqueous silver ions (Ag+) to AgNPs was facilitated by the extract, resulting in the formation of stable AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized through various spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. The nanoparticles showed a sharp absorbance peak at 480 nm on UV-Vis spectroscopy. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirms the presence of flavonol, glycosides and phloroglucinols. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the reduction of silver ions to silver element. It shows the different distinct peaks at 25.78 °, 39.41 °, 41.37 ° and 76.26 ° correspond to the (0 1 2), (1 1 1), (1 0 1) and (3 1 1) planes of standard XRD peak reflections of silver crystal. The formation of monodispersed low polydispersity nanoparticles (16.47 nm) was revealed by the transmission electron micrograph (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis confirms the presence of elemental silver. AgNPs showed good antioxidant properties in DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging and ferric reducing power assays. This result proved that AgNPs have strong antioxidant activity, which is comparable to the standard. Antioxidant activity of AgNPs increased dose-dependently, based on the reduction of electron or hydrogen acceptors. Antibacterial activity of AgNPs was demonstrated against test strains, showing significant inhibition. A maximum zone of inhibition of 15 mm was observed against Staphylococcus aureus, followed by 14 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 80 µg/mL concentration. The AgNPs showed moderate toxicity against A. salina. The present study demonstrates the potential of in vitro H. wightianum extract for the phytosynthesis of AgNPs with antioxidant, antibacterial and moderate toxicity properties.

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