First Report of the Biosynthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Using Scabiosa atropurpurea subsp. maritima Fruit Extracts and Their Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Properties

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 9; p. 1585
• Main Authors: Essghaier, Badiaa, Toukabri, Nourchéne, Dridi, Rihab, Hannachi, Hédia, Limam, Inès, Mottola, Filomena, Mokni, Mourad, Zid, Mohamed Faouzi, Rocco, Lucia, Abdelkarim, Mohamed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: anti-dermatophytes; antibacterial; Anticancer properties; Antifungal activity; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Antioxidants; Antitumor agents; bio-synthetized silver nanoparticles; Biofilms; Biomedical materials; Biosynthesis; Breast cancer; Cancer; Candida; cytotoxic activity; Cytotoxicity; Drug resistance; Fluconazole; Fourier transforms; Free radicals; Fruits; Fungicides; Germination; Hyphae; Infections; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Multiple myeloma; Nanoparticles; Reduction; Scabiosa atropurpurea; Scabiosa atropurpurea subsp. maritima (L.); Silver; Spectrum analysis; Virulence; Virulence factors; Tunisia; anti-dermatophytes; bio-synthetized silver nanoparticles; antibacterial; Scabiosa atropurpurea subsp. maritima (L.); cytotoxic activity; antioxidants
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano12091585

and dermatophyte infections are difficult to treat due to increasing antifungal drugs resistance such as fluconazole, as well as the emergence of multi-resistance in clinical bacteria. Here, we first synthesized silver nanoparticles using aqueous fruit extracts from subsp. (L.). The characterization of the AgNPs by means of UV, XRD, FTIR, and TEM showed that the AgNPs had a uniform spherical shape with average sizes of 40-50 nm. The biosynthesized AgNPs showed high antioxidant activity when investigated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The AgNPs displayed strong antibacterial potential expressed by the maximum zone inhibition and the lowest MIC and MBC values. The AgNPs revealed a significant antifungal effect against the growth and biofilm of species. In fact, the AgNPs were efficient against and . The antifungal mechanisms of action of the AgNPs seem to be due to the disruption of membrane integrity and a reduction in virulence factors (biofilm and hyphae formation and a reduction in germination). Finally, the silver nanoparticles also showed important cytotoxic activity against the human multiple myeloma U266 cell line and the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Therefore, we describe new silver nanoparticles with promising biomedical application in the development of novel antimicrobial and anticancer agents.