Investigation of Anti-MRSA and Anticancer Activity of Eco-Friendly Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles from Palm Dates Extract

In the present work, we investigated novel, green, and facile approach for the synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles by use of inexpensive and available Iraqi Zahdi palm dates extract as reducing and stabilizing agents. The formation and color change of dark brown suspension of silver nanoparticles were monitored and examined by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric analysis at maximum wavelength of 401 nm. The produced nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry (FTIR), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results demonstrated that particle size distribution was around 90 ± 40 nm which was in line with grain size of the nanoparticles measured by AFM, while the crystallite size was about 20 nm according to the results observed from XRD technique. Additionally, the zeta potential of synthesized silver nanoparticles was found to be nearly about -25 mV, whereby the suspension showed high stability upon storing the sample in a cool place for a long period of time. The synthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited efficient antibacterial activity against pathogenic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. They also showed enhanced anticancer activity against breast cancer cells (MCF7) with high apoptotic effect as compared with normal MCF10A cells, which confirmed the biocompatible nature of green synthesized silver nanoparticles. It is considered that nanosilver particles synthesized with palm dates extract may basically establish a significant step to synthesize such nanoparticles for topical applications as well as an alternative anticancer drug of existing chemotherapeutics of cancer.