Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using indigenous Xanthorrhoea glauca leaf extract and their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermis

Background: This study for the first time presents an environmentally friendly, room temperature procedure for synthesizing silver (Ag) nanoparticles via the leaf extract taken from Xanthorrhoea glauca. Methods: The simple and straightforward green chemistry based technique uses the leaf extract that acts as both reducing agent and capping agent to produce Ag nanoparticles which are subsequently quantified using advanced characterisation techniques. In addition, antibacterial studies were conducted using the Kirby-Bauer sensitivity method. Results: Advanced characterisation revealed the synthesised particles had a variety of shapes including cubes, truncated triangular and hexagonal plates, and ranged in size from 50 nm up to 200 nm. The Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermis showed the maximum zone of inhibition at 11 mm. Conclusions: The study has shown that the leaf extract was able to synthesis Ag nanoparticles with antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermis .