Aegiceras corniculatum-mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Biophysical characterization and cytotoxicity on vero cells

Nowadays, silver nanoparticles receive increasing attention in nanomedicine, due to their characteristics which allow numerous biological applications. In this study, a biofabrication protocol was formulated to synthesize silver nanoparticles using a mangrove extract of Aegiceras corniculatum. The bio-physical characterization of mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles were carried out using UV–vis spectrophotometry, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD analysis and HRTEM. In vitro cytotoxicity assays of mangrove fabricated silver nanoparticles was made in comparison with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles on Vero cell lines. MTT assay was applied in order to investigate the cytotoxic nature of the mangrove fabricated and chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles. The concentration which caused 50 % cell death (CC50) was 18.79 ± 0.9 μg/mL in the cells treated with mangroves fabricated silver nanoparticles whereas chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles produced the same effect (i.e. 50 % cell death) at 8.96 ± 0.8 μg/mL. Results showed that the mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles was more biocompatible when compared with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles, highlighting their promising potential as nanocarriers in pharmacology and nanomedicine.