LAUSR

Abstract In the current research work, an attempt was made to synthesize silver nanoparticles (MA-AgNPs) utilizing the ripened fruit extract of Melia azedarach. Various characterization techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopic analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to confirm the AgNPs synthesis. The bioreduction and color changes were tracked by UV-visible spectroscopy while SEM confirmed AgNPs of size 2–60 nm. TGA revealed the stability of the synthesized AgNPs. The antibacterial potential of the M. azedarach-based AgNPs and the fruit extract was assessed in terms of zone of inhibition (ZI), minimum bactericidal concentration, and minimum inhibitory concentration against tested bacterial strains where higher activity was noted for NPs (P. aeruginosa ZI = 22). The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and (2,2-azinobis-[3-ethylbenzthiazoline]-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays revealed that NPs have significant antioxidant activities. The IC50 values recorded for extract was 340 and 350 μg·mL−1 against DPPH and ABTS whereas the corresponding values obtained for AgNPs were 40 and 58 μg·mL−1, respectively. The study suggests that the engineered NPs have promising biological activities compared to the parental extract, and thus could be used in drug designing as antibacterial and antioxidant agents; however, there should be further in vivo exploration in this regard before extending their uses to biological systems.