Phyto-mediated biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using the rind extract of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) under photo-catalyzed condition and investigation of its antibacterial, anticandidal and antioxidant efficacy

The biological synthesis of nanoparticles has gained tremendous interest, and plants and plant extracts are preferred over other biological sources for this process because of their rich content of bioactive metabolites. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were produced utilizing the aqueous extract of watermelon rind (WRA), an agricultural waste material under photo exposed condition at room temperature, and tested for their antibacterial, anticandidal and antioxidant activities. The synthesized AgNPs showed surface plasmon resonance at 425 nm with an average size of 109.97 nm. The morphology and elemental composition was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) confirmed that the bioactive compounds from the WRA extract were involved in the synthesis and capping of AgNPs. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the crystallite nature of the AgNPs. The AgNPs exhibited strong broad spectrum antibacterial activity against five different foodborne bacteria with zones of inhibition 9.12-14.54 mm in diameter. When AgNPs were mixed with kanamycin and rifampicin the mixture exhibited strong antibacterial synergistic activity. The AgNPs also exerted strong synergistic anticandidal activity when they were combined with amphotericin b. The AgNPs had high antioxidant activity and reducing power. Overall, the results confirmed the bio-potentials of the synthesized AgNPs using WRA, which could have applications in the biomedical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food preservation and packaging industries.