Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Solanum trilobatum fruits extract and its antibacterial, cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cell line MCF 7

Abstract In the present study, we have synthesized silver nanoparticles by a simple and eco-friendly method using unripe fruits of Solanum trilobatum . The aqueous silver ions when exposed to unripe fruits extract were reduced and stabilized over long time resulting in biosynthesis of surface functionalized silver nanoparticles. The bio-reduced silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles were tested for its antibacterial activity against few human pathogenic bacteria including Gram-positive ( Streptococcus mutans , Enterococcus faecalis ) and Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae ) bacteria. In addition, we also demonstrated anticancer activity of these nanoparticles in vitro against human breast cancer cell line (MCF 7) using MTT, nuclear morphology assay, Western blot and RT-PCR expression. These results taken together show the potential applications of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles using S. trilobatum fruits.