AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICACY OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF MITRACARPUS SCABER AND ITS BIOSYNTHESISED SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Research on biosynthesis and biological application of Nanoparticles (NPs) has increased significantly in the last decades due to their eco-friendly nature and cost-effectiveness compared to other routes of nanoparticle synthesis. Recently, significant growth has been observed in the utilisation of medicinal herbs for nanoparticle synthesis due to their numerous advantages and fewer complications. Mitracarpus scaber is a medicinal plant widely employed on both humans and animals in herbal medicine. This study used standard procedures to conduct qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of Mitracarpus scaber leaf extract. Furthermore, the biosynthesised silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, Energy dispersive x-ray, UV-visible spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,. The inhibitory properties of the methanol extract and biosynthesised nanoparticles were evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Proteus vulgaris, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 employing the macro-broth dilution techniques. Findings of phytochemical screening indicated the existence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, phenols and flavonoids. However, phenol was the most abundant phytochemical present (42.00±0.04 mg/100g). The minimum inhibitory concentration exerted by methanolic extract of Mitracarpus scaber leaf ranged from 2.25-4.5 mg/ml and 0.01-0.05 mg/ml for biosynthesised silver nanoparticles. The minimum bactericidal concentration of the methanolic extract and biosynthesised silver nanoparticles ranged from 2.25-18 mg/ml and 0.03-0.1 mg/ml, respectively. The findings from the antibacterial evaluation show that the biosynthesised nanoparticle is potent compared to the methanolic extract and its potential can be harnessed and used as an antibacterial agent for the treatment of diseases.