Green Synthesis and Characterization of Libyan Propolis Nanoparticles and its Biological Activity

The ever-increasing demand for natural products and biotechnology, derived from bees and ultra-modernization of various analytical devices, has facilitated the rational and planned development of biotechnology products with a focus on human health to treat chronic and neglected diseases. This study aimed to prepare, characterize and examine the stability and evaluation of the antioxidant and the antibacterial activity of Libyan propolis. Propolis Nanoparticles PNP were prepared using particle size reduction, then Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) at a magnification of X 25000, was used for accurate evaluation of the size distribution of NPs. Three different concentration (10, 5, 2.5 mg/ml) of propolis and nano-propolis powder were tested for their 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. The quantitative antioxidant activity test results using UV Spectrophotometer absorbance at 517 nm. The antibacterial activities of propolis and prepared nano propolis at different concentrations (10, 5 and 2.5mg/ml) were tested on bacterial strain, Klebsiella, human mouth, skin, and surface bacteria using cup cut diffusion method. The findings exhibited that the prepared propolis Nanoparticles (PNPs) were generally non-spherical with a size 100-200 nm. The PNP was a nano-sized particle around 316 nm in diameter. Zeta potential of PNP showed a negative surface charge value (− 48 mV) which was sufficiently high to avoid NPs aggregation. This value represents a stable and dispersed suspension of NPs and disables the tendency of aggregations in a short in period of time. Poly dispersity index (PdI) of synthetized PNP was used as a measurement of the size distribution. PdI values for PrNP were generally uniform with PdI 0.3 indicating monodispersity of the prepared systems. The propolis and PNPs displayed good antioxidant activity with inhibition percentage (77%, 46% and 18%) for propolis and (82%, 66% and 37%) for PNPs. Propolis nanoparticles showed to have more antibacterial effect compared to propolis. Libyan propolis nanoparticles has shown to be potential candidates as antioxidant and antibacterial agent.