Abstract A rapid advance of nanotechnology has the potential approach for significant improvements in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In this article, we report a simple and eco-friendly biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using silver nitrate as metal precursor in Curcuma longa. These Ag-NPs were characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These nanoparticles exhibited maximum absorbance in specific nano meter range in UV–vis spectroscopy. TEM micrographs revealed the formation of well-dispersed Ag-NPs with its size and morphology. Microbiology assay founds that Ag-NPs are effective against V.cholera bacteria. These developments raise exciting opportunities to diagnose and treat pathogenic mode of infection based on the various profiles to target diseases.

1. Int. J. Pharm. Res. Sci., 2014, 02(1), 98-103.
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ISSN: 2348 –0882
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Biosynthesis Of Silver Nanoparticles Using Curcuma Longa And Their
Antibacterial Activity
S Elumalai1 and R Devika2
1
Associate professor, Dept. of Plant Biology & Plant Biotechnology, Presidency College, Chennai, India.
2
Research scholar, Dept. of Plant Biology & Plant Biotechnology, Presidency College, Chennai, India.
Email: devinanotech25@gmail.com
Abstract
A rapid advance of nanotechnology has the
potential approach for significant improvements in
disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In this
article, we report a simple and eco-friendly
biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using
silver nitrate as metal precursor in Curcuma longa.
These Ag-NPs were characterized by UV–vis
spectroscopy,
and
Transmission
electron
microscopy (TEM). These nanoparticles exhibited
maximum absorbance in specific nano meter range
in UV–vis spectroscopy. TEM micrographs
revealed the formation of well-dispersed Ag-NPs
with its size and morphology. Microbiology assay
founds that Ag-NPs are effective against V.cholera
bacteria. These developments raise exciting
opportunities to diagnose and treat pathogenic mode
of infection based on the various profiles to target
diseases.
Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, C. longa ,
Spectroscopic studies, Antibacterial Activity
1. Introduction
A novel biosynthesis of nanoparticles is an exciting
methods that have attracted significant attention due
to their potential use in many applications, such as
catalysis, drug delivery biosensor [1] antimicrobials
and therapeutics [2,3]. New application of
nanoparticles and nanomaterials are emerging
rapidly [4]. Biological methods of nanoparticles
synthesis using microorganism, enzyme, andplant
or plant extract have been suggested aspossible
ecofriendly alternatives to chemical andphysical
methods [5]. As part of our work, we have observed
that aqueous silver ions, when exposed to the
rhizome extract of C. longa, are reduced in solution,
thereby leading to the formation of an extremely
stable silver particle.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Collection and Extract Preparation
The rhizomes of C. longa were rinsed with fresh
seawater and distilled water to remove associated
debris. The cleaned material was then air dried to
dryness in the shade at 30°C. The dried samples
were finely powdered and stored at -20°C until use.
Approximately 10 g of C. longa biomass was taken
in a conical flask containing 100 mL of distilled
water, kept for 24 hrs and then the aqueous solution
components were separated by filtration. To this
solution, AgNO3 (10-3 M) was added and kept for
several hours at 24 hrs Periodically, aliquots of the
reaction solution were removed and the absorptions
were
measured
in
a
Elico
UV-Vis
spectrophotometer.
2.2 Synthesis and Characterization
For the synthesis of Ag- NPs 1ml of rhizome
extracts as test solution were incubated at room
temperature for 1-2 hours. The silver nanoparticle
solution thus obtained was purified by repeated
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2. Int. J. Pharm. Res. Sci., 2014, 02(1), 98-103.
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ISSN: 2348 –0882
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centrifugation at 15,000 rpm for 20min. Supernatant
is discarded and the pellet is dissolved in deionised
water. It is well known that Ag-NPs exhibit
yellowish brown color in aqueous solution due to
excitation of surface plasmon vibrations in Ag-NPs
[6]. The silver nanoparticles were confirmed by
colour changes and qualitatively characterized by
UV-visible spectrophotometer on a Elico UV- Vis
spectrophotometer. The bioreduction of Ag+ ions in
solution
was
monitored
using
UV-Vis
spectroscopyfrom zerotime reading was noted and
double distilled water as blank, and incubated at
culture condition. The samples were withdrawn at
various time intervals and the absorbance was
measured [7].
2.3 UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis
UV-Vis Spectral analysis was done by using
HITACHI U-2900 Spetrophotometer. The UV-Vis
Spectrophotometer analysis reveals the formation of
silver nanoparticles by showing surface Plasmon
resonance at 422 nm. UV-Vis Spectroscopy is one
of the most widely used techniques for structural
characterization of silver nanoparticles. The
absorption spectrum of the brown silver colloids
prepared by hydrazine reduction showed a surface
Plasmon absorption band with a maximum of 422
nm indicating the presence of spherical or roughly
spherical silver nanoparticles [8].
2.4 TEManalysis of silver nanoparticles
Sample for TEM analysis was prepared as
mentioned in IR sample preparations. The sample
was first sonicated (Vibronics VS 80) for 5 min.
Silver nanoparticles was loaded on carbon-coated
copper grids and solvent was allowed to evaporate
under Infra light for 30 min. TEM measurements
were performed on Phillips model CM 20
instrument operated at an accelerating voltage at
200 Kv.
2.5 Antibacterial activity:
Bactericidal effects of Ag-NPs were studied against
Vibrio cholera bacteria. Antimicrobial activity was
demonstrated by modified method described [9].
Then 0.1 ml of the diluted microbial cultures was
spread on sterile nutrient agar plate. The soaked and
dried discs of 6 mm diameter of Whatman filter
paper No: 1 were then placed on the seeded plates
and gently pressed down to ensure contact [10].
Four replicates were placed for control, Ag-NPs,
antibiotics and Ag-NPs combined with antibiotics
Chloramphenicol, in each disc to confirm the
inhibition a zone, and the plates were incubated at
37°C for 24 hours. After incubation period, the
inhibition zone around the discs were measured and
recorded, as the difference in diameter between the
disc (6 mm) and growth free zone of V. cholera
were measured.
2.6 Results & Discussion
Silver nanoparticles were synthesized from AgNO3
solution containing Ag+ ions by treating with the
rhizome extracts. The color of the solution changed
to deep brownish color within 30 min of reaction
with the Ag+ ions. The appearance of the deep
brownish color indicated formation of silver
nanoparticles. The formation of silver nanoparticles
was confirmed by color changes followed by UVVis spectrophotometer analysis. It is generally
recognized that UV-Vis spectroscopy could be used
to examine size and shape-controlled nanoparticles
in aqueous suspensions [11]. The UV-Vis
spectrophotometer proved to be very useful
technique for the analysis of some metal
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3. Int. J. Pharm. Res. Sci., 2014, 02(1), 98-103.
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ISSN: 2348 –0882
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nanoparticles. The UV- visible spectra (shown in
Fig 1) indicated a strong Plasmon resonance that
was located at ~422 nm. Presence of this strong
broad plasmon peak had been well documented for
various Me- NPs, with sizes ranging all the way
from 2 to 100 nm. The microstructures and size of
the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were studied
by TEM analysis. The typical TEM images of the
silver nanoparticles synthesized by rhizome extract
as reducing agent are shown in Fig. 2. The
micrograph shows formation of spherical like
morphology. The spherical like particles show very
small size about 5-10 nm.
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4. Int. J. Pharm. Res. Sci., 2014, 02(1), 98-103.
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ISSN: 2348 –0882
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2. Rai, M., Yadav, A., Gade, A., 2009. Silver
nanoparticles as a new generation of
antimicrobials. Biotechnol Adv 27, 76-83.
3. Elechiguerra, J,L., Morones, J,R., Burt, J.L.,
Camacho, A,B., Gao, X., 2005. The
bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticles
with HIV-1. J Nanobiotechnology 3, 6.
4. Naiwa, H.S., Hand Book of Nanostructural
Materials and Nanotechnology 2000.11, 1–
5p.
Conclusion
The silver nanoparticles synthesized using extracts
of rhizome samples was confirmed by color
changes and was characterized by UV-visible
spectrophotometer; the UV-visible spectra showed a
broad peak located at 422nm for silver
nanoparticles. The TEM analysis shows large
spherical shape particle with 200 nm size and a
small spherical like 5-10 nm size particles. This
technique has proved to be very useful for the
synthesis of nanoparticles from biological material.
Hence, we conclude that the synthesized
nanoparticles from C. longa more efficient due to
its biological origin and its smaller size and it can
be further analyzed for the usage in drug delivery
process and anti microbicidal properties.
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