Nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit distinct features compared to traditional physico-chemical synthesis and they have many applications in a wide range of fields of life sciences such as surface coating agents, catalysts, food packaging, corrosion protection, environmental remediation, electronics, biomedical and antimicrobial. Green-synthesized metal NPs, mainly from plant sources, have gained a lot of attention due to their intrinsic characteristics like eco-friendliness, rapidity and cost-effectiveness. In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs have been synthesized employing an aqueous leaf extract of Pelargonium odoratissimum (L.) as a reducing agent; subsequently, the biosynthesized ZnO NPs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Moreover, aqueous plant leaf extract was subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Antioxidant activity of ZnO NPs was assessed by DPPH assay, with varying concentrations of ZnO NPs, which revealed scavenging activity with IC₅₀ = 28.11 μg mL⁻¹. Furthermore, the anti-bacterial efficacy of the green synthesized ZnO NPs against four foodborne pathogenic bacterial strains was examined using the disk diffusion assay, and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 8095), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC10662) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) were found to be the most sensitive against biosynthesized ZnO NPs, whereas the least sensitivity was shown by Bacillus cereus (ATCC 13753). The anti-inflammatory effect was also evaluated for both ZnO NPs and the aqueous leaf extract of P. odoratissimum through the human red blood cells (HRBC) membrane stabilization method (MSM) in vitro models which includes hypotonicity-induced hemolysis. A maximum membrane stabilization of ZnO NPs was found to be 95.6% at a dose of 1000 μg mL⁻¹ compared with the standard indomethacin. The results demonstrated that leaf extract of P. odoratissimum is suitable for synthesizing ZnO NPs, with antioxidant, antibacterial as well as superior anti-inflammatory activity by improving the membrane stability of lysosome cells, which have physiological properties similar to erythrocyte membrane cells and have no hemolytic activity. Overall, this study provides biosynthesized ZnO NPs that can be used as a safe alternative to synthetic substances as well as a potential candidate for antioxidants, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory uses in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.

Background: The green synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), notably from plants, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Although the increased popularity use of Cymbopogon citratus as a therapeutic substance, to date, there has not been any research on the chemistry of C. citratus aqueous leaf extract (ALE) or synthesis of ZnO NPs utilizing an extract from it. The ecologically safe ALE of C. citratus was employed in this study as a bio-reducing and capping agent to synthesize ZnO NPs. Results: The novelty of the current study is the investigation of the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and cytotoxic potencies of biosynthesized ZnO NPs utilizing C. citratus ALE. Zinc acetate dihydrate was used as the precursor and the leaf extract serves as the reducing agent. ZnO NPs from ALE of C. citratus were characterized by the spherical in form by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and the Scherrer formula was used to calculate the size of the crystalline structure. The presence of numerous functional groups in both the ALE and the NPs is confirmed by FTIR analysis. The highest absorption peak is observed at 370 nm. The stability and particle size of the biosynthesized ZnO NPs are demonstrated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. The biosynthesized ZnO NPs exhibited excellent antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀ value of 45.67 ± 0.1 μg/mL and exerted interesting anti-inflammatory activity (98.1% ± 0.04) when compared to the standard indomethacin (92.1% ± 0.07) at 1 mg/mL. They also showed anti-microbial activity for both bacterial and fungal which growth rates for both significantly decreased with the increase in ZnO NPs concentration compared to the control. The anticancer activity of biosynthesized ZnO NPs and C. citratus ALE was in vitro tested against seven human cancer cell lines (HCCL) (i.e. H1299, MDA-MB-468, HNO97, HEK, HCT116, HuH7, and HEPG2) compared to normal cells (HSF) using the sulforhodamine-B (SRB) assay. More interestingly, the biosynthesized ZnO NPs displayed remarkable selective cytotoxicity against all tested cancer cell lines without any effect on normal cells. In contrast, the cancer cell lines were not affected by the ALE of C. citratus at any concentrations tested. Conclusions: All the findings confirm that the ZnO NPs biosynthesized in the current work are promising candidates for a variety of biological activities, and as a result, they can be helpful to the medical sector, environmental and agricultural applications. Graphical

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruits contain high concentrations of phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids and other micronutrients, which impact human health due to their potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer characteristics. In the present study, the effect of ethyl acetate, hydroethanol, hydromethanol, and aqueous extract from three date palm varieties (i.e., Ajwa, Siwi, and Sukkari) on phytochemical profiles and antioxidant and anticancer activities was investigated. Fruit extracts were screened for their antioxidant activity using the DPPH· method. Phenolic constituents were quantified and identified using HPLC-DAD. Extracts (ethyl acetate, hydroethanol, and hydromethanol) were assessed for cytotoxicity on nine human cancer cell lines, i.e., MG-63, HCT116, MCF7, MDA-MB-231, HEPG2, HUH7, A549, H460, and HFB4, using the sulphorhodamine-B (SRB) assay. Results showed that the ethyl acetate extract of the Sukkari fruits has the greatest antioxidant potential with an IC₅₀ value of 132.4 ± 0.3 μg·mL⁻¹, while the aqueous extract of Ajwa date fruits exhibited the lowest antioxidant effect with an IC₅₀ value of 867.1 ± 0.3 μg·mL⁻¹. The extracts exhibited potent to moderate anticancer activities against the investigated cancer cell line in a source-dependent manner. Methanol extract of Siwi fruits exhibited the most potent anticancer activity (IC₅₀ = 99 ± 1.6 µg·mL⁻¹), followed by the same extract of Sukkari fruits with an IC₅₀ value of 119 ± 3.5 µg·mL⁻¹ against the cell line of human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231). Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) was investigated to determine the relationship among the investigated traits and treatments. Our findings reveal that date palm fruit-derived extracts are excellent sources of biologically active constituents and substantiate their potential use in new anticancer strategies from natural resources.

Rosa gallica var. aegyptiaca is a species of flowering plant belonging to the Rosaceae family that plays an important role as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of specific types of cancer, microbial infections, and diabetes mellitus. This work presents the first report on the evaluation of the antioxidant and antimicrobial potential along with the phytochemical analysis of Rosa gallica var. aegyptiaca leaves. Five leaf extracts of hexane, chloroform, methanol, hydromethanol 80%, and water were prepared. Assessment of antioxidant activity was carried out via DPPH radical scavenging assay. Antimicrobial activity against five foodborne pathogenic bacteria—including Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enteritidis—and the fungus Candida albicans, was examined using the disc diffusion method. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Isolation, identification, and quantification of phenolic compounds were performed using HPLC-DAD analysis. Amongst the five leaf extracts that were investigated, hydromethanol 80% extract possessed the highest extraction yield, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and antimicrobial activity against all tested microbial strains. Moreover, this extract furnished six active phenolic compounds: gallic acid (1), (+) catechin (2), chlorogenic acid (3), (–) epicatechin (4), quercetin-3-O-α-d-(glucopyranoside) (5), and quercetin (6). This study provides an alternative utilization of R. gallica var. aegyptiaca leaves as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobials in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Phytochemicals are gaining interest as a new source of natural pharmaceuticals to replace synthetic ones, which are controlled owing to potential health hazards and toxicity. A comparison of extract yield, phenolic, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity in various extraction methods were studied. Extraction with different solvent polarity including chloroform (CF), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), acetone (AC), methanol (MeOH), and distilled water (DW) was prepared using maceration extraction (ME), one of the traditional methods and two methods of recent extraction techniques also known as "Green Extraction" techniques, ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction (UASE) and microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE). The antioxidant activity of the extracts was measured using the DPPH method of the antioxidant assay. Higher phenolic (194.3±1.5 and 191.7±0.4, respectively) were found in the methanolic leaf extracts in the case of MASE and UASE than maceration extraction (ME). Meanwhile, DW extract showed the highest flavonoids (174.3±1.0 and 167.4±1.0, respectively) contents by using UASE and MASE followed by methanolic extract (140.1±0.6 and 136.6±1.1, respectively) compared with the conventional extraction technique. The extraction techniques, as well as the solvent polarity and time of extraction, influenced extract yield, total phenolic and flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity.