Antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic potential of Euphorbia royleana extract-mediated silver and copper oxide nanoparticles

The present research demonstrates the first-time successful synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and copper oxide nanoparticles (Cu 2 O NPs) from Euphorbia royleana pulp extract. The morphological features of synthesized NPs were examined using XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, and TEM. With the presence of surface-bonded phenolic groups, the particle size of Ag NPs and Cu 2 O NPs (spherical) was revealed to be 20.53 ± 1.15 nm and 3.06 ± 0.04 nm, respectively. The DPPH and FRAP assays demonstrated significant antioxidant activity (Ag NPs: 60.44 µg/mL and 141.86 µg/mL; Cu 2 O NPs: 63.55 µg/mL and 138.9 µg/mL, respectively). Additionally, Ag and Cu 2 O NPs showed good antimicrobial activity (31.25 to 500 µg/mL) against Bacillus subtilis , Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Fusarium oxysporum, and Rosellinia necatrix. Against colon cancer cell lines, nanoparticles showed potent cytotoxic activity (IC 50 -50.12 µg/mL for Ag NPs and 61.93 µg/mL for Cu 2 O NPs). As a result of their significant biological activities, the synthesized NPs showed potency to be utilized in various biomedical applications after in vivo studies.