Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles from leaf extract of Terminalia arjuna, for the enhanced mitotic cell division and pollen germination activity

Abstract This present work reports an ecofriendly approach for the synthesis of spherical gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Terminalia arjuna . T. arjuna contains arjunetin, leucoanthocyanidins and hydrolyzable tannins, which are found to be responsible for the bio-reduction of Au NPs. The formed Au NPs were characterized by UV–vis, FTIR, XRD, AFM and TEM analysis. UV–visible spectra of the aqueous medium containing gold nanoparticles showed a surface plasmon resonance peak at 530 nm. FT-IR analysis was performed to analyze the biomolecules responsible for the reduction of Au NPs. XRD results confirmed the presence of gold nanoparticles with face centered cubic structure. The calculated crystallite sizes are in the range of 20 to 50 nm and the spherical nature of the Au NPs was ascertained by transmission electron microscopy. The efficacy of the synthesized Au NPs was tested for the mitotic cell division and pollen germination. It is suggested that Au NPs induces the mitotic cell division and pollen germination. There was no cytotoxic effect of Allium cepa root tip cells and Gloriosa superba pollen grains.