Adept green synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles using Kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa) juice and Studies on their cytotoxic activity and antimicrobial evaluation

Abstract

Background: The high-speed resistance of microbial pathogens and enfeeble of antibiotic therapy competence specifically with the rise in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) eventually brought several thousand deaths each year. Nanoparticles have gained a lot of interest in recent years for their antibacterial and cytotoxic potential, very distinctly the copper oxide nanoparticles. Methods: Methodology involves the green synthesis of Cu2O NPs using kiwi fruit juice followed by characterization viz., XRD, SEM, UV-visible, FT-IR, particle size and zeta potential techniques. Toxicity evaluation was done by exposing HEK-293 and MCF-7 cell lines to Cu2O NPs and further testing the potency of nanoparticles against S. aureus, E.coli, A.niger and C.albicans. Results: The SEM-EDX analysis showed that Cu2O NPs are spherical in nature and pure. Half of the Cu2O NPs particles size was about 100 nm. IC50values observed for HEK-293 and MCF-7 cells were 20.51±0.52 ug mL−1and 6.25±0.27 ug mL−1. The distinct selectivity index (3.28) of the Cu2O NPS against human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was observed. In the antimicrobial test, the zone of inhibitions were 20, 18, 14, 15 mm on S. aureus, E.coli, A.niger and C.albicans respectively. Conclusion: The Cu2O nanoparticles manifested excellent cytotoxicity against HEK-293 and MCF-7 cell lines and their antimicrobial activity was superlative with exceptional zones of inhibition against S. aureus (20 mm), E. coli (18 mm), C. albicans (14 mm) and A. niger (15 mm) revealing outstanding effectiveness at minimal concentrations.

Keywords

• Cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu2O NPs)
• Antimicrobial evaluation
• Cytotoxicity
• Human embryonic kidney cell lines (HEK-293)
• Human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7)