Silver nanoparticles from Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. fruits extract and their antimicrobial activity

Abstract

An easy and ecofriendly method to synthesize silver nanoparticles from different stages of ripening fruit extracts of Ziziphus spina-christi is demonstrated. UV-Vis spectroscopy showed a surface resonance peak at 423, 428 and 438 nm corresponding to the formation of AgNPs from ripened, unripened and young fruits, respectively. On the basis of XRD analysis the particle size of three stages of fruit ripening was found to range between 16.5 and 50.76 nm and all had silver metal which was confirmed by EDX. The inhibitory efficacy of AgNPs increased with the ripening progress such as ripened fruit > unripened fruit > young fruit against all tested human pathogenic microbes.