Abstract
The objective of current study is to synthesize biocompatible gold nanoparticles using Rumex nepalensis leaf extract and to evaluate their antibacterial activity. The biosynthesized gold nanoparticles were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. SEM showed spherical in shape of nanoparticles and XRD revealed crystalline nature with an average size of 8.63 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed the involvement of biomolecules in the reduction of gold ions to gold nanoparticles. Biosynthesized gold nanoparticles were applied against common pathogenic bacterial strains along with plant extracts (aqueous and methanolic). Gold nanoparticles demonstrated much higher activity as compared to both leaf extracts and positive control (Ampicillin).The current study demonstrated that an aqueous leaf extract of R. nepalensis can be utilised to fabricate gold nanoparticles with smaller spherical size and significant antibacterial activity. Moreover, this green approach to synthesize AuNPs using R. nepalensis leaf extract, being cost effective and eco-friendly, can be scaled up.
