Green synthesis of functionalized gold nanoparticles has been considered to be more biocompatible and has gained much attention in recent years. The ecofriendly synthesis, long half-life of drugs, low cost, and nontoxicity make them an appealing potential option for the biomedical field. The leaf aqueous extract of 10 different plants, namely, Araucaria heterophylla (Ah), Lagerstroemia indica (Li), Combretum indicum (Ci), Melia azedarach (Ma), Muntingia calabura (Mc), Hygrophila auriculata (Ha), Rivina humilis (Rh), Callistemon lanceolatus (Cl), Pterygota alata (Pa), and Vateria indica (Vi) was used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Among them, six plants supported the synthesis of stable AuNPs. The generation of ruby red from pale yellow color proved AuNPs synthesis and which was further confirmed by the absorption peak in UV-Vis spectroscopy. Enhanced antioxidant activity was found with Pa-AuNPs compared with other phytosynthesized AuNPs. Pa-AuNPs were thus characterized by HR-TEM, EDX, XRD, and FTIR. Pa-AuNPs exhibited potent dose-dependent anticancer efficacy and an effective dose of IC 50 mediated apoptosis and necrosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Pa-AuNPs significantly enhanced the generation of ROS, in effect inducing mitochondrial membrane sensitization to trigger the cascade of apoptosis. The research highlights the effectiveness of AuNPs on cancer cells in vitro and, in turn, a progressive step toward novel biomedical applications. These findings indicate that phytosynthesized AuNPs may be an enticing anti-cancer strategy for breast cancer without eliciting toxicity to normal cells. K E Y W O R D S apoptosis, biomedical, cytotoxicity, gold nanoparticles, ROS 1 | INTRODUCTION Cancer is malignant, intrusive growth that infects surrounding tissues and metastasizes to other areas of the body. The alteration of the oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and microRNA genes is the probable cause for cancer development. Cancer is predicted to claim 9.6 million lives worldwide by 2019, with breast cancer as one of the most diagnosed cancers in the world. In 2019, about 2 million new cases of breast cancer have arisen