Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of nanoparticles synthesized from Euphorbia spp. extract in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This study was conducted to investigate secondary metabolite constituents of Euphorbia species collected from Soran district, Erbil, Iraq, in Rosti valley and examine its aqueous extract capability in synthesis of Ag and ZnO nano particles and evaluating their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The phytochemical profile of Euphorbia extract was analyzed using GC-MS, and for confirmation of synthesized nanoparticles, different techniques were conducted including FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDS. For assessing antibacterial and antifungal activities, well diffusion method was applied. And DPPH assay was used for antioxidant activity evaluation for both plant extract and synthesized nanoparticles.The GC-MS analysis determined 23 phytochemicals, the major phytochemicals identified belonged to triterpenoid group including lupeol, lanosterol, and taraxasterol. Additionally, other phytochemicals belong to other secondary metabolite groups were identified including phenols and alkaloids. Theses metabolites have major role as reducing and stabilizing agent important in the process of nanoparticle formation, and mainly they control particle sizes and improve structural stability of nanoparticle. SEM and XRD result showed that, AgNPs exhibited a uniform spherical morphology with strong crystallinity, while ZnONPs shows a moderate aggregation with shape variability. Regarding their antimicrobial activity, AgNPs shows higher antibacterial and antifungal activity compared to ZnONPs and plant extract. The DPPH assay test for Euphorbia plant extract shows potent antioxidant activity especially in high concentration.This study demonstrates a sustainable and successful green method for synthesizing biologically active nanoparticles, at the same time emphasizing Euphorbia spp as a biogenic source as antioxidant and antimicrobial agent suitable for pharmaceutical and biomedicine applications.