Abstract

Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles from Medicinal Plants and its Biological Applications: A Review

Author(s): Arpita Roy

Nano-biotechnology holds a great potential in various fields of life sciences. Nanotechnology involves the use of materials with components that have dimensions less than 100 nm. The demand for green synthesis of nanoparticles increases day by day due to the drawbacks of chemical synthesis. Application of nano-sized materials is an emerging area of nanotechnology. Among various metal nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles gain special interest due to its remarkable properties. Silver nanoparticles are usually ranging from 1-100nm size. They have unique electrical, optical, and thermal properties and which can be incorporated into industrial application of electronics, catalysis, and photonics. Silver nanoparticles exhibit a broad spectrum of anti-bactericidal and anti-fungicidal activities making them extremely popular in a diverse range of consumer products, including plastics, soaps, pastes, food, and textiles, thus increasing their market value. The presence of soluble organics in the plant extracts was mainly responsible for the silver ions reduction to nano-sized silver particles. The present review provides information on silver nanoparticles synthesis from various medicinal plants, various methods of characterization and it's biological application.