Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles from Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Extracts and Characterization of Their Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

This study assessed the antimicrobial efficacy of synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles produced using aqueous extracts of pomegranate leaves and flowers designated ZnO-NPs-PL, ZnO-NPs-PF. In the study, oxides of zinc were successfully employed to fabricate nanoparticles using extracts from leaves and flowers of pomegranate (Punica granatum). The nanoparticles obtained were characterized spectroscopically. X-ray diffractive analysis (XRD) revealed the elemental components and nature of the synthesized particles. The fabricated zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO-NPs) showed a crystalline structure. The morphology of the nanoparticles as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was unevenly spherical and the functional groups involved in stabilization, reduction and capping were confirmed using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) Spectroscopy. Confirmation of the nanoparticles by UV–Vis analysis showed absorption bands of 284 and 357 nm for pomegranate leaf and flower extract, respectively, mediated ZnO-NPs. Evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of the fabricated nanoparticles showed that ZnO-NPs were effective against all selected pathogenic strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmonella diarizonae, Salmonella typhi, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Moraxella catarrhalis, Aeromonas hydrophila and Listeria monocytogenes, used in the analysis. The effectiveness of these nanoparticles could be linked to their sizes and shapes as obtained using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Our reports revealed that increasing the concentration of the nanoparticles resulted in an increase in the antibacterial activity exerted by the nanoparticles, thus suggesting that both ZnO-NPs can effectively be used as alternative antibacterial agents. Further research is required to assess their mechanisms of action and toxicity.

Nanoencapsulation of thyme essential oil: a new avenue to enhance its protective role against oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles in rats

“…Tang et al ( 2016 ) indicated that ZnO-NPs increased the white blood cell counts mainly granulocyte and neutrophil and decreased the lymphocyte count which reflects the inflammatory reaction and the immune dysfunction. Generally, the increased level of MDA, NO, TNF-α, AFP, and CEA and the decrease in TAC, SOD, and CAT suggested that the toxicity of ZnO-NPs is mainly via the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammation (Ifeanyichukwu et al 2020 ; Tian et al 2015 ).…”

Cytotoxic Potential of Amygdaline Zinc Nano Particles on PC3 and MCF7 Cell Lines

“…Spectrophotometer: (Figure 1) showed an absorption peak at 261 nm which indicates the successful biosynthesis of amygdalin ZnO NPs. Researcher of (Ifeanyichukwu, et al 2020) reported that combined vibration of electrons of the biosynthesized nanoparticles indicate with the light wave. And this due to the surface Plasmon resonance (SPR), which is a distinguishing property of the nanoparticles (Thamer, N.A.…”

Umbilical cord medication in healthy full-term newborns: a before-after uncontrolled quality improvement study

“…However, it is not possible to exclude that the effects observed in our study could be due to the presence of other substances such as zinc oxide, cornstarch, arginine, allantoin, or magnesium oxide. Indeed, some of these substances have been recently associated to antibacterial activities [ 15 , 16 ].…”