Investigation of Biofabricated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial and Anticancer Efficiencies

Abstract

Capparis zeylanica leaf extract was employed in this work to create iron oxide nanoparticles (α-Fe2O3) using anhydrous ferric chloride. The UV spectrum, XRD, FT-IR, and FE-SEM with EDX methods were used to characterize the fabricated nanoparticles. The iron oxide nanoparticles obtained were spherical in form, with an average crystallite size of 28.17 nm determined by XRD. The agar well diffusion method was used to assess the antimicrobial activity of the α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles created in this study against pathogenic organisms, Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeroginosa), Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes), and fungi (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger). Among the pathogens tested, S. pyogenes had the highest zones of inhibition (25 ± 1.26 mm), followed by S. aureus (23 ± 0.8 mm), E. coli (23 ± 2.46 mm), P. aeroginosa (22 ± 1.86 mm), C. albicans (19 ± 2.34 mm) and A. niger (17 ± 3.2 mm). The substance was further tested for anticancer activity against A549 (lung cancer) cells using the MTT assay. The cytotoxic reaction was found to be concentration-dependent. The present study, therefore, came to the conclusion that the bio-effectiveness of the manufactured α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles may result in applications in biomedical domains.

Keywords

• bio-fabrication
• <i>Capparis zeylanica</i>
• α-Fe₂O₃
• antimicrobial activity
• lung cancer (A549)