Plant extract mediated synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and its antibacterial activity against clinically isolated pathogens.

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles is under exploration is due to wide biomedical applications and research interest in nanotechnology. Bioreduction of silver nitrate (AgNO(3)) and chloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) for the synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles respectively with the plant extract, Mentha piperita (Lamiaceae). The plant extract is mixed with AgNO(3) and HAuCl(2), incubated and studied synthesis of nanoparticles using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The nanoparticles were characterized by FTIR, SEM equipped with EDS. The silver nanoparticles synthesized were generally found to be spherical in shape with 90 nm, whereas the synthesized gold nanoparticles were found to be 150 nm. The results showed that the leaf extract of menthol is very good bioreductant for the synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and synthesized nanoparticles active against clinically isolated human pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.