Biosynthesis of Microbial Pigment-Mediated Nanoparticles and Its Biomedical Applications

Microbes are known to produce various bioactive compounds that find applications in the biomedical field. Out of many bioactive compounds, pigments synthesized from microbes have gained industrial attention. Pigments have been produced from various bacteria, fungi, and algae. Recently, microbial pigment-mediated nanoparticle (NP) synthesis is gaining importance due to its application in various fields. Various pigments such as melanin, phycocyanin, monascus, xanthomonadin, prodigiosin, carotenoid, flexirubin, canthaxanthin, and fucoxanthin have been utilized to generate different types of NPs with diverse shapes and sizes. Generally, silver and gold NPs have mostly been made using microbial pigments. The benefit of utilizing NPs produced through these pigments is that this method is eco-friendly and cost-effective. In addition to this, these NPs can be used in diverse biomedical sectors. These NPs act as anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant agents. The present review sheds light on various microbial pigments that have been utilized for the synthesis of various NPs and their application in medicine and diagnostics and their future prospects.