Optimized green synthesis of gold nanoparticles from cranberry fruit extract using response surface methodology for...

The ever-growing field of nanotechnology requires optimized green manufacturing of gold nanoparticles. The current study focuses to optimize the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using cranberry fruit extract, which has a rich phytochemical content and can operate as a reducing agent. The UV-Vis spectrum indicated the absorption at 530-550nm, which is characteristic of gold nanoparticles in the bottom-up approach. The IR spectra provided valuable information about the phytochemicals present in the plant extract. The major peaks of AuNPs in XRD and SEM, TEM images affirmed the synthesized nanoparticles are spherical in shape. The thermal stability of the nanoparticles was exemplified using TG-DTA analysis. Further, the synthesized particles were employed to study in-vitro cytotoxicity activity against MCF-7 breast cancerous cells and at its highest concentration (200 mL), the AuNPs showed highest cytotoxicity activity of 90.43 % against MCF-7 cell lines. The Anti-bacterial activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was observed on both gram positive and gram negative pathogens where the gram-negative pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed highest zone of inhibition (21 mm and 23 mm), while gram positive pathogens such as Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecalis showed less zone of inhibition (17 mm and 15 mm). Additionally, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was utilized to optimize the average diameter size of AuNPs using the Box Behnken design (BBD). The bio synthesized AuNPs are also found effective in degradation of Methylene Bule (MB), an electrophilic dye and Metanil Yellow (MY), an anionic azo dye. Overall, this study displays that cranberry-mediated AuNPs can be a sustainable substitute in biological and environmental applications, in addition to adding to the expanding corpus of research on green nanotechnology.