Preparation of antimicrobial metallic nanoparticles with bioactive compounds

Despite the all recent advancements in medicine, infectious diseases continue to be major causes of death worldwide. Developing nanomaterials as preventive and therapeutic agents against infectious diseases has been one of the research priorities in medicine. However, the application of metal nanoparticles as antimicrobial agents is hampered due to environmental and safety concerns. Using green chemistry, researchers can produce biocompatible nanoparticles that have fewer detrimental effects on human health and the environment. Although chemical compounds have been considered as traditional sources for producing nanomaterials, a wide variety of biocompatible plant-derived secondary metabolites have recently been introduced that can be used to synthesize and stabilize metal nanoparticles. These metabolites have shown potent antibacterial effects making them suitable substitutes for the chemical agents in nanoparticle synthesis. This review has focused on the antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles synthesized using plant-derived secondary metabolites instead of crude extract. The mechanisms of metal nanoparticles synthesis and antimicrobial activity are also discussed for different phytochemicals and metal nanoparticles. Finally, the evaluation of the toxicity and safety of phytochemicals coated metal nanoparticles has been conducted. I believe that this is the first review on the antimicrobial and other biological properties of metal nanoparticles synthesized or coated utilizing specific plant-derived secondary metabolites.