Antibacterial Effect of Nanoparticles Synthesized from Ficus exaseprata (Sandpaper Leaves)

The eco-friendly, cost effectiveness, and the less toxic nature of synthesized green nanoparticles to the environment have become a global attraction to many studies. The study aim to synthesize Silver (Ag) nanoparticles from Ficus exasperata (Sandpaper leave) leaves and to determine its antimicrobial effect on bacteria isolates. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were synthesized from the plant extracts using standard extracting techniques and their presence was verified and confirmed using an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) Spectrophotometer.  A prepared series of silver nitrate (AgNO3) solutions were mixed with the plant extracts at a ratio of 1:1 (v/v) to a total volume of 20ml in a text-tube.  The test tubes were rapped with aluminum foil and heated in a water bath at 60OC for 3 hours and allowed to cool and analyzed using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The UV-Vis spectra confirmed the different concentrations of silver nitrate (AgNO3) that produced Ag nanoparticles and their average size was more than 50nm and less than 100nm. The mixture of the leave extract was tested for its antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli respectively. The results showed that the growth of the different bacteria was inhibited by the extracts containing silver nitrate on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and not on Bacillus cereus using Ficus exaseprata nanoparticles. Statistical evaluation showed that zones of inhibition on the three bacteria produced by the aqueous leave extracts containing different concentration of silver nitrate (AgNO3¬¬) precursor was significantly different from the silver nitrate (AgNO3) precursor. It were observed that the higher the concentration of the silver nitrate (AgNO3) the greater the zone of inhibition. It can be concluded that Ficus exaseprata leave extracts dope with silver nanoparticles, can produce antimicrobial effects on some microorganisms.