ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Rubus ellipticus fruits extract-mediated cuprous oxide nanoparticles: in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, and toxicity study

Jyoti Dhatwalia, Amita Kumari, Ankush Chauhan, Khalid Mujasam Batoo, Antara Banerjee, Arunkumar Radhakrishnan, Shabnam Thakur, Ishita Guleria, Sohan Lal, Suresh Ghotekar, Byung Hyune Choi, and Rajesh Kumar

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Bajhol-Solan, India

E-mail: amitabot@gmail.com

Received: 8 July 2022  Accepted: 17 October 2022

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to synthesize biologically active cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu₂O-NPs) using green nanotechnology from aqueous extract of Rubus ellipticus fruits. The structural characterization of aqueous extract-mediated cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Ru-Cu₂O-NPs) was performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Using standard techniques, Ru-Cu₂O-NPs were also evaluated for their biological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer) and toxicity. The XRD patterns and Rietveld refinement confirmed the phase purity of Ru-Cu₂O-NPs with an average crystallite size of 25 nm. The FE-SEM and TEM images showed the formation of octahedron cages with a grain size of 0.82 ± 0.04 μm on average. The XPS analysis confirmed the presence of Cu¹⁺ ions with many chemisorbed species on the surface. The determination of functional groups was carried out using FTIR with Cu–O stretching vibration at 635 cm⁻¹. Tauc’s plot determined that the optical bandgap of the synthesized Ru-Cu₂O-NPs was 1.28 eV. Compared to aqueous fruit extract, Ru-Cu₂O-NPs showed significantly lower antioxidant activity. Furthermore, they showed higher antimicrobial activity (MIC) against Bacillus subtilis and Rosellinia necatrix (7.81 µg/mL), Staphylococcus aureus (15.62 µg/mL), and Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Fusarium oxysporum (31.2 µg/mL). The Ru-Cu₂O-NPs showed no toxicity against BM MSCs and HC cells at 12.5 µg/mL concentration, whereas the Ru-Cu₂O-NPs showed anticancer activity against colon cancer cell lines (SW480 and SW620) at 100 g/mL concentration. These results indicate that Ru-Cu₂O-NPs have good antimicrobial and anticancer properties but have low toxicity thus making them suitable for use in pharmaceuticals and food industries.

Keywords: R. ellipticus; Nanoparticles; Antioxidant; Antimicrobial; Toxicity

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02551-z

Chemical Papers 77 (3) 1377–1393 (2023)