Valorization-fruit peel mediated green synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles: structural insights and biomedical applications

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were eco-friendlily synthesized using extracts from the peels of Punica granatum and Artocarpus heterophyllus, which served as natural reducing and stabilizing agents, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical and physical methods while also utilizing fruit waste. The resulting AgNPs mainly displayed a spherical shape with average particle sizes of 12.8 ± 2.1 nm and 22.6 ± 2.8 nm, along with a crystalline face-centred cubic (FCC) structure and favourable colloidal stability, as demonstrated by UV–Vis, TEM, SEM, XRD, DLS, zeta potential, and FTIR analyses. The nanoparticles revealed promising antioxidant efficiency in both DPPH and ABTS assays, as well as concentration-dependent antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. In the DPPH test, the radical scavenging activity was equivalent, albeit marginally less than that of ascorbic acid; at higher concentrations, the ABTS test approached comparable efficiency. All things considered, this fruit peel-mediated method highlights the useful potential of fruit waste valorization in green nanotechnology and future biomedical applications by providing a sustainable means of generating stable and biologically active AgNPs.