Rhus and Safflower Extracts as Potential Novel Food Antioxidant, Anticancer, and Antimicrobial Agents Using Nanotechnology
1
Food Industries Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35511, Egypt
2
Agricultural Chemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35511, Egypt
3
University of Florida, IFAS, Citrus Research & Education Center, 700 Experiment Station Road, Lake Alfred, FL 33850, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Foods 2019, 8(4), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8040139
Received: 19 March 2019 / Revised: 16 April 2019 / Accepted: 20 April 2019 / Published: 23 April 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Nanotechnology in Developing Functional Foods)
Abstract
Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using plant extracts offers a safe and attractive alternate to the chemical methods. The present work aims at preparing metal nanoparticles of rhus (Rhus coriaria L.) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) extracts using Fe2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ag+ ions. The water extracts were prepared, and the total polyphenols and flavonoids contents were determined. The safflower extract contained the highest number of total polyphenols and total flavonoids (87.20 mg GAE/g and 36.32 mg QE/g), respectively. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV–Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The studied extracts and their nanoparticles were evaluated as an antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents. The plant extracts and their nanoparticles showed significant antioxidant activity using (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS•+) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. Safflower silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were the most powerful antimicrobial agent compared to the other nanoparticles. The Sulforhodamine B (SRB) cytotoxic activity was evaluated against three cancer cell lines. The results revealed that CuNP safflower nanoparticles displayed the highest activity as anticancer agent with values (98.94% with T47D, 97.68% with HEPG2, and 89.33% against Caco-2). The data revealed that rhus and safflower extracts and their nanoparticles possess high potential activity as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer agents. View Full-TextKeywords:
green nanoparticles synthesis; transmission electron microscope; HEPG2; T47D; Caco-2; Gram-positive bacteria; Gram-negative bacteria
▼
Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Ibrahim, F.Y.; EL-Khateeb, A.Y.; Mohamed, A.H. Rhus and Safflower Extracts as Potential Novel Food Antioxidant, Anticancer, and Antimicrobial Agents Using Nanotechnology. Foods 2019, 8, 139.
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.