Antioxidant and antibacterial evaluation of aqueous extract and nanoparticles synthesized from Moringa oleifera leaves

The present study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of crude aqueous extract as well as nanoparticles synthesized from Moringa oleifera leaves. Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was done using aqueous leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera. The antioxidant potential of crude aqueous extract as well as nanoparticles from Moringa leaves was determined by DPPH, FRAP, ABTS assays. The total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were also determined. The antibacterial effects of crude aqueous extract as well as nanoparticles from Moringa leaf extracts against infectious bacterial strains were also evaluated. Results showed significantly higher antioxidant potentials in nanoparticles synthesized from Moringa leaf extracts as compared to aqueous extract. DPPH scavenging activity, ferric reducing ability (FRAP) and ABTS radical scavenging activity were higher in nanoparticles of Moringa leaf extracts as compared to crude aqueous extract. Further, the antibacterial effect was higher in nanoparticles as compared to crude aqueous extract prepared from Moringa leaves. These results showed the strong antioxidant potential and antibacterial activity of nanoparticles synthesized from aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera as compared to its crude aqueous extract.