Objective: Tabernaemontana divaricata a common garden plant on tropical countries has been used as a traditional medicine. There is an increasing commercial demand for nanoparticles due to their wide applicability in various areas such as electronics, catalysis, chemistry, energy, and medicine. Metallic nanoparticles are traditionally synthesized by wet chemical techniques, where the chemicals used are quite often toxic and flammable. In this work, we describe a cost effective and environment friendly technique for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from T. divaricata leaf extract. Methods: Biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized using UV– Vis absorption spectroscopy, TEM, FTIR and SEM analysis. Cytotoxicity of AgNPs was tested in human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Results: TEM analysis showed the average particle size of 22.85 nm as revealed in their structure . The qualitative assessment of reducing potential of leaf extract has also been carried out which indicated presence of significant amount of reducing entities. Green synthesized AgNPs by T. divaricata leaf extract show cytotoxicity to human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Conclusion: The most important outcome of this work will be the development of value-added products from T. divaricata . The characteristics of the obtained AgNPs were analysed which could be used potentially in various human contacting areas such as cosmetics, foods, and medical applications.
Cannonball (Couroupita guianensis) is a tree belonging to the family Lecythidaceae. Various parts of the tree have been reported to contain oils, keto steroids, glycosides, couroupitine, indirubin, isatin, and phenolic substances. We report here the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using cannonball leaves. Green synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, and FTIR. Cannonball leaf broth as a reducing agent converts silver ions to AgNPs in a rapid and ecofriendly manner. The UV-Vis spectra gave surface plasmon resonance peak at 434 nm. TEM image shows well-dispersed silver nanoparticles with an average particle size of 28.4 nm. FTIR showed the structure and respective bands of the synthesized nanoparticles and the stretch of bonds. Green synthesized silver nanoparticles by cannonball leaf extract show cytotoxicity to human breast cancer cell line (MCF7). Overall, this environmentally friendly method of biological silver nanoparticles production provides rates of synthesis faster than or comparable to those of chemical methods and can potentially be used in various human contacting areas such as cosmetics, foods, and medical applications.