In the present work, bioaugmented zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were prepared from aqueous fruit extracts of Myristica fragrans. The ZnO-NPs were characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The crystallites exhibited a mean size of 41.23 nm measured via XRD and were highly pure, while SEM and TEM analyses of synthesized NPs confirmed their spherical or elliptical shape. The functional groups responsible for stabilizing and capping of ZnO-NPs were confirmed using FTIR analysis. The ζ-size and ζ-potential of synthesized ZnO-NPs were reported as 66 nm and −22.1 mV, respectively, via the DLS technique can be considered as moderate stable colloidal solution. Synthesized NPs were used to evaluate for their possible antibacterial, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiparasitic, and larvicidal properties. The NPs were found to be highly active against bacterial strains both coated with antibiotics and alone. Klebsiella pneumoniae was found to be the most sensitive strain against NPs (27 ± 1.73) and against NPs coated with imipinem (26 ± 1.5). ZnO-NPs displayed outstanding inhibitory potential against enzymes protein kinase (12.23 ± 0.42), α-amylase (73.23 ± 0.42), and α-glucosidase (65.21 ± 0.49). Overall, the synthesized NPs have shown significant larvicidal activity (77.3 ± 1.8) against Aedes aegypti, the mosquitoes involved in the transmission of dengue fever. Similarly, tremendous leishmanicidal activity was also observed against both the promastigote (71.50 ± 0.70) and amastigote (61.41 ± 0.71) forms of the parasite. The biosynthesized NPs were found to be excellent antioxidant and biocompatible nanomaterials. Biosynthesized ZnO-NPs were also used as photocatalytic agents, resulting in 88% degradation of methylene blue dye in 140 min. Owing to their eco-friendly synthesis, nontoxicity, and biocompatible nature, ZnO-NPs synthesized from M. fragrans can be exploited as potential candidates for biomedical and environmental applications.

The anti‐cancer, anti‐aging, anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti‐diabetic effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO‐NPs) produced from aqueous leaf extract of Aquilegia pubiflora were evaluated in this study. Several methods were used to characterize ZnO‐NPs, including SEM, FTIR, XRD, DLS, PL, Raman, and HPLC. The nanoparticles that had a size of 34.23 nm as well as a strong aqueous dispersion potential were highly pure, spherical or elliptical in form, and had a mean size of 34.23 nm. According to FTIR and HPLC studies, the flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives were successfully capped. Synthesized ZnO‐NPs in water have a zeta potential of ‐18.4 mV, showing that they are stable solutions. The ZnO‐NPs proved to be highly toxic for the HepG2 cell line and showed a reduced cell viability of 23.68 ± 2.1% after 24 hours of ZnO‐NP treatment. ZnO‐NPs also showed excellent inhibitory potential against the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (IC₅₀: 102 μg/mL) and butyrylcholinesterase (IC₅₀: 125 μg/mL) which are involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, the enzymes involved in aging, diabetes, and inflammation showed a moderate inhibitory response to ZnO‐NPs. Given these findings, these biosynthesized ZnO‐NPs could be a good option for the cure of deadly diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other inflammatory diseases due to their strong anticancer potential and efficient antioxidant properties.

In this work, an ecofriendly approach for biogenic production of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) was proposed by utilizing the Bacopa monnieri leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The synthesis of CuO-NPs was instantly confirmed by a shift in the color of the copper solution from blue to dark gray. The use of UV–visible spectroscopy revealed a strong narrow peak at 535 nm, confirming the existence of monoclinic-shaped nanoparticles. The average size of CuO-NPs was 34.4 nm, according to scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies. The pristine crystalline nature of CuO-NPs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The monoclinic form of CuO-NPs with a crystallite size of 22 nm was determined by the sharp narrow peaks corresponding to 273, 541, 698, 684, and 366 Bragg’s planes at different 2θ values. The presence of different reducing metabolites on the surface of CuO was shown by Fourier transform infrared analysis. The biological efficacy of CuO-NPs was tested against Helicobacter felis, Helicobacter suis, Helicobacter salomonis. and Helicobacter bizzozeronii. H. suis was the most susceptible strain with an inhibition zone of 15.84 ± 0.89 mm at 5 mg/mL of NPs, while the most tolerant strain was H. bizzozeronii with a 13.11 ± 0.83 mm of inhibition zone. In in vivo analgesic activity, CuO-NPs showed superior efficiency compared to controls. The maximum latency time observed was 7.14 ± 0.12 s at a dose level of 400 mg/kg after 90 min, followed by 5.21 ± 0.29 s at 400 mg/kg after 60 min, demonstrating 65 and 61% of analgesia, respectively. Diclofenac sodium was used as a standard with a latency time of 8.6 ± 0.23 s. The results observed in the rat paw edema assays showed a significant inhibitory activity of the plant-mediated CuO-NPs. The percentage inhibition of edema was 74% after 48 h for the group treated with CuO-NPs compared to the control group treated with diclofenac (100 mg/kg) with 24% edema inhibition. The solution of CuO-NPs produced 82% inhibition of edema after 21 days when compared with that of the standard drug diclofenac (73%). CuO-NPs vividly lowered glucose levels in STZ-induced diabetic mice, according to our findings. Blood glucose levels were reduced by about 33.66 and 32.19% in CuO-NP and (CuO-NP + insulin) groups of mice, respectively. From the abovementioned calculations, we can easily conclude that B. monnieri-synthesized CuO-NPs will be a potential antibacterial, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory agent on in vivo and in vitro basis.

Nanoparticles have long been known and their biomedical potent activities have proven that these can provide an alternative to other drugs. In the current study, copper oxide, nickel oxide and copper/nickel hybrid NPs were biosynthesized by using Curcuma longa root extracts as a reducing and capping agent, followed by characterization via UV-spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo galvanometric analysis (TGA), and band gap. FTIR spectroscopy shows the availability of various functional groups and biomolecules such as carbohydrate, protein, polysaccharides, etc. The EDX peak confirmed that the elemental nickel and copper were present in large quantity in the analyzed sample. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the synthesized CuO-NPs and NiO-NPs were polyhedral uniform and homogeneous in morphology, while the copper/nickel hybrid NPs were well dispersed, spherical in shape, and uniform in size. TEM micrographs of CuO-NPs had 27.72 nm, NiO had 23.13 nm and, for their hybrid, the size was 17.38 nm, which was confirmed respectively. The CuO and NiO NPs possessed spherical- to multi-headed shapes, while their hybrid showed a complete spherical shape, small size, and polydispersed NPs. The XRD spectra revealed that the average particle size for CuO, NiO, and hybrid were 29.7 nm, 28 nm and 27 nm, respectively. Maximum anti-diabetic inhibition of (52.35 ± 0.76: CuO-NPs, 68.1 ± 0.93: NiO-NPs and 74.23 ± 0.42: Cu + Ni hybrids) for α-amylase and (39.25 ± 0.18 CuO-NPs, 52.35 ± 1.32: NiO-NPs and 62.32 ± 0.48: Cu + Ni hybrids) for α-glucosidase were calculated, respectively, at 400 µg/mL. The maximum antioxidants capacity was observed as 65.1 ± 0.83 μgAAE/mg for Cu-Ni hybrids, 58.39 ± 0.62 μgAAE/mg for NiO-NPs, and 52.2 ± 0.31 μgAAE/mg for CuO-NPs, respectively, at 400 μg/mL. The highest antibacterial activity of biosynthesized NPs was observed against P. aeuroginosa (28 ± 1.22) and P. vulgaris (25 ± 1.73) for Cu + Ni hybrids, respectively. Furthermore, the antibiotics were coated with NPs, and activity was noted. Significant anti-leishmanial activity of 60.5 ± 0.53 and 68.4 ± 0.59 for Cu + Ni hybrids; 53.2 ± 0.48 and 61.2 ± 0.44 for NiO-NPs; 49.1 ± 0.39 and 56.2 ± 0.45 for CuO-NPs at 400 μg/mL were recorded for promastigote and amastigotes, respectively. The biosynthesized NPs also showed significant anti-cancerous potential against HepG2 cell lines. It was concluded from the study that NPs are potential agents to be used as an alternative to antimicrobial agents.

Herein, we report a facile, economic, one-pot green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) for diverse biomedical applications. In the study, ZnO-NPs were synthesized using an aqueous extract of Aquilegia pubiflora as an effective reducing and capping agent. The biomediated nanoparticles were characterized using various techniques including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy, Dynamic light scattering, photoluminescence, and RAMAN. The particles were highly pure, having an average size of 34.23 nm with spherical or elliptical morphology, and displayed good aqueous dispersion capability. FTIR and HPLC confirmed the successful capping of flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. The characterized NPs were then explored for their antimicrobial and anti-leishmanial potential. Among the tested bacterial and fungal strains, ZnO-NPs were more potent toward Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Fusarium solani with inhibition zone of 10.3 ± 0.19 mm and 13 ± 1.4 mm, respectively. A dose-dependent cytotoxic effect was observed against Leishmania tropica (KWH23) with significant IC₅₀ for both the promastigote (48 μg/mL) and amastigote form (51 μg/mL) of the parasite. In addition, bacterial kinase enzymes were inhibited by ZnO-NPs, thus allowing us to elaborate a possible action mechanism. Finally, the remarkable biocompatible nature of the particles was confirmed against freshly isolated human red blood cells (hRBCs). Altogether, these results affirmed the high antimicrobial and antiparasitic potential of ZnO-NPs obtained through a biogenic synthetic approach using aqueous extract of the Himalayan Columbine (Aquilegia pubiflora).