Insight into Romanian Wild-Grown Heracleum sphondylium: Development of a New Phytocarrier Based on Silver Nanoparticles with Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxicity Potential

<b>Background</b>: <i>Heracleum sphondylium</i>, a medicinal plant used in Romanian ethnopharmacology, has been proven to have remarkable biological activity. The escalating concerns surrounding antimicrobial resistance led to a special attention being paid to new efficient antimicrobial agents based on medicinal plants and nanotechnology. We report the preparation of a novel, simple phytocarrier that harnesses the bioactive properties of <i>H. sphondylium</i> and silver nanoparticles (HS-Ag system). <b>Methods</b>: <i>H. sphondylium</i>'s low metabolic profile was determined through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry. The morphostructural properties of the innovative phytocarrier were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using total phenolic content, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) in vitro assays. The antimicrobial activity screening against <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, and <i>Escherichia coli</i> was conducted using the agar well diffusion method. The 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay estimated the in vitro potential cytotoxicity on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) and cervical cancer (HeLa) cells. <b>Results</b>: A total of 88 biomolecules were detected, such as terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, coumarins, phenylpropanoids, iridoids, amino acids, phytosterols, fatty acids. The HS-Ag phytocarrier heightened efficacy in suppressing the growth of all tested bacterial strains compared to <i>H. sphondylium</i> and exhibited a significant inhibition of HeLa cell viability. <b>Conclusions</b>: The new HS-Ag phytocarrier system holds promise for a wide range of medical applications. The data confirm the capacity to augment the pertinent theoretical understanding in the innovative field of antimicrobial agents.