PHYTOFABRICATION OF BORRERIA HISPIDA-MEDIATED SILVER NANOPARTICLES: PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND IN VITRO BIOACTIVITY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using an aqueous extract of Borreria hispida and characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties, as well as preliminary in vitro anti-inflammatory and α amylase inhibitory activities. The dried plant material was extracted with distilled water and reacted with 0.001 M silver nitrate at room temperature. A yellow-to-brown colour change was observed as an indicator of the formation of nanoparticles which was then investigated through UV–visible and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The UV-visible spectrum exhibited a surface plasmon resonance peak at 425 nm and the FTIR spectrum showed the characteristic bands of plant derived functional groups used in the preparation of nanoparticles at 3367.71 cm−1, 2893.22 cm−1, 1639.49 cm−1, 1363.67 cm−1, 1209.37 cm−1, 696.30 cm−1, 605.65 cm−1 and 443.63 cm−1. It was observed by SEM that the particles size ranged from 67.21 nm and 92.47 nm with clustered regions. The protein-denaturation assay showed a decrease in absorbance in all the samples tested from the absorbance of the blank (1.976) to the lowest reported sample volume (0.540) or 72.67% apparent inhibition. The apparent inhibition in the α-amylase assay was 18.38% at 1 mL absorbance was reduced from 1.795 to 1.465. Based on these results, B. hispida mediated AgNPs could be investigated further in a controlled manner, especially by carrying out concentration normalized dose-response experiments, replicate experiments and complementary characterization of AgNPs.