Allium ascalonicum plant mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles and evaluation of their antimicrobial activity

Abstract

The increasing demand for silver nanoparticles has led to the need for new superior methods of synthesis to be developed. In this study, the Allium Ascalonicum plant was used in the plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The phytochemicals of the plant were extracted using seven different solvents with a range of polarities and the methanol/water 50/50 solvent had the highest extraction yield of 63 %. The phytochemical tests showed that the plant is rich in phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids and glycosides which possess great potential for reducing and capping silver nanoparticles. The optimum conditions for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles were determined to be 6 mL of the plant extract, 8 mM silver nitrate solution at a 50 oC temperature and a reaction time of 3 hours. The synthesised silver nanoparticles showed great inhibition against the Escherichia coli and the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, exhibiting maximum inhibition zones of 23 mm and 24 mm respectively. In conclusion, the Allium Ascalonicum showed great potential as an alternative for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles and the plant-mediated silver nanoparticles showed great potential as alternatives to antibiotics.