Facile bio-genic synthesis of Astragalus sarcocolla (Anzaroot) gum extract mediated silver nanoparticles: Characterizations, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities

The recent increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria has led to a notable difficulty in medicine, demanding endeavors to fabricate efficient antibacterial substances. Unlike traditional physical and chemical approaches, bio-genic approaches demonstrate various advantages, such as affordability, safety, and speed. The current study presents novel green silver nanoparticles employing Astragalus sarcocolla (Anzaroot) gum extract (ASG-AgNPs). For the first time, the alcoholic gum extract of this plant was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles in order to obtain antioxidant and antimicrobial nanoparticles. After optimizing the fabrication reaction conditions, ASG-AgNPs were characterized by DLS, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, FT-IR, and XRD analyses. The antibacterial and antifungal potential of ASG-AgNPs and ASG extract was examined against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Candida albicans by the broth microdilution method. Also, the DPPH technique was carried out to investigate the antioxidant property. TEM images displayed a highly even and spherical configuration of ASG-AgNPs, with an average size of 15.76 ± 1.40 nm. ASG-AgNPs exhibited high antimicrobial activity against all examined microbial models. The strongest effects were on Candida albicans and Klebsiella pneumoniae microorganisms, with MIC values of 62.5 and 156.25 μg/ml, respectively. DPPH radical inhibition percentages were raised from 14 to 98 by raising the concentration of ASG-AgNPs from 100 to 800 μg/ml, indicating suitable antioxidant activity. Both the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the extract were weaker than ASG-AgNPs, suggesting significant synergism between the extract and AgNPs. These findings demonstrate that utilizing the gum of the Astragalus sarcocolla plant is effective in producing AgNPs, which likely possess significant potential for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. However, further research is required.