The study highlights the synthesis of gold nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles by fresh leaves of Panax ginseng, an herbal medicinal plant. The reduction of auric chloride and silver nitrate led to the formation of gold and silver nanoparticles within 3 and 45 min, at 80°C, respectively. The developed methodology was rapid, facile, ecofriendly and the utmost significant is quite economical, which did not require subsequent processing for reduction or stabilization of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were further characterized by Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) which showed the relevant peak for gold and silver nanoparticles at 578 and 420 nm, correspondingly. Field-emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM) displayed the spherical shape of monodispersed nanoparticles. FE-TEM revealed that the gold nanoparticles were 10-20 nm and silver nanoparticles were 5–15 nm. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and elemental mapping results indicated the maximum distribution of gold and silver elements in the respective nanoproducts, which further corresponds the purity. Further, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirm the crystalline nature of synthesized nanoparticles. The biosynthesized AgNPs served as an efficient antimicrobial agent at 3 μg concentration against many pathogenic strains for instance, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus. In addition, AgNPs showed complete inhibition of biofilm formation by S. aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 4 μg/ml concentration. Moreover, the AuNPs and AgNPs found as a potent anticoagulant agent. Thus, the study claims the rapid synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by fresh P. ginseng leaf extract and its biological applications.

Cylindrocarpon destructans/Ilyonectria radicicola is thought to cause both rusty symptom and root-rot disease of American and Korean ginseng. Root-rot disease poses a more serious threat to ginseng roots than rusty symptoms, which we argue result from the plant defense response to pathogen attack. Therefore, strains causing rotten root are characterized as more aggressive than strains causing rusty symptoms. In this review, we state 1- the molecular evidence indicating that the root-rot causing strains are genetically distinct considering them as a separate species of Ilyonectria, namely I. mors-panacis and 2- the physiological and biochemical differences between the weakly and highly aggressive species as well as those between rusty and rotten ginseng plants. Eventually, we postulated that rusty symptom occurs on ginseng roots due to incompatible interactions with the weakly aggressive species of Ilyonectria, by the established iron-phenolic compound complexes while root-rot is developed by I. mors-panacis infection due to the production of high quantities of hydrolytic and oxidative fungal enzymes which destroy the plant defensive barriers, in parallel with the pathogen growth stimulation by utilizing the available iron. Furthermore, we highlight future areas for study that will help elucidate the complete mechanism of root-rot disease development.

Gold (FA-AuNps) and silver (FA-AgNps) nanoparticles were synthesized at room temperature by aqueous extract of dried fruits of Amomum villosum, also known as Fructus Amomi (cardamom), in order to confer antioxidant, catalytic, antimicrobial activities and treatment effect against breast cancer cells. Fruit extracts served as both reducing agents and stabilizers in lieu of chemical agents. Ultra-violet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, elemental mapping, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were employed to characterize the biosynthesized nanoparticles. Both FA-AuNps and FA-AgNps exhibited free radical scavenging activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrzyl (DPPH). Additionally, biosynthesized nanoparticles successfully reduced methylene blue, a well-known redox indicator. FA-AgNps showed zones of inhibition against pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Finally, the biological activities and cytotoxicity of nanoparticles were subsequently investigated in vitro. FA-AuNps demonstrated a potential cytotoxic agent against breast cancer cells as evaluated by MTT assay. The study highlights a rapid synthesis of FA-AuNps and FA-AgNps by dried Fructus Amomi aqueous extract and evaluates their potential biological applications on medical platforms. Graphical Abstract