Plant-Mediated Silver Nanoparticle Formulations for Wound Healing: A Process-Property-Performance Perspective.

Abstract

Biomaterials intended for wound healing are expected to reduce microbial load while supporting tissue repair in complex wound environments. Plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has attracted interest because plant extracts can provide phytochemicals that mediate nanoparticle reduction, capping, and stabilization. This review critically evaluates recent studies on plant-mediated AgNPs for wound-healing applications, focusing on botanical and extraction variables, synthesis conditions, physicochemical properties, formulation strategies, administered exposure, safety, and biological outcomes. Across the 34 included publications, 14 directly assessed a process-to-property relationship and only two assessed a process-to-performance relationship; none directly assessed a property-to-performance relationship or established a complete process-to-property-to-performance chain. The reviewed studies suggest that plant-mediated AgNPs may reduce microbial burden, modulate inflammation, mitigate oxidative stress, and promote cell migration, re-epithelialization, collagen remodeling, and angiogenesis. However, batch-to-batch variability, incomplete reporting of experimental details, over-reliance on ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy for optimization, inadequate evaluation of formulation stability, inconsistent dose reporting, and limited molecular validation of proposed mechanisms remain major factors limiting translation. By evaluating plant-mediated AgNP-based wound-healing systems through a process-property-performance framework, this review summarizes recent advances and highlights key considerations for improving reproducibility, comparability, and translational relevance.