Abstract
The green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles using plant extracts is attracting increasing attention as it is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and suitable for large-scale production. Phytochemicals in plant extracts are used to reduce and stabilize metal nanoparticles. This study highlights the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) at room temperature using Laurus nobilis (L. nobilis) leaf extract and their antibacterial and cytotoxic activities for biomedical applications. Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized using L. nobilis leaf extract via the green approach. The synthesized Ag NPs were characterized by UV–Visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. According to TEM, SEM, and XRD diffraction analysis, it was found that the synthesized Ag NPs have a face-centered cubic crystal structure with a mean particle size of 13 ± 4 nm. The synthesized Ag NPs were tested for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration values of Ag NPs were 3.5, 0.45, and 7, 0.9 μg/mL, respectively. The synthesized Ag NPs were screened toward the human liver cancer cell line in vitro. The results show that the Ag NPS synthesized using L. nobilis leaf had high cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 8.86 ± 0.74 µL/mL.