ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED USING CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM

Silver is a proven antimicrobial compound and silver nanoparticles are gaining their importance due to their biological activities. The aim of the current study was to use cinnamon bark extract for the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and to evaluate their antibacterial and anti- oxidant activity in vitro. The physical characterization of these silver nanoparticles was verified using UV - visible spectroscopy. The reaction mixture of silver nitrate with bark extract was monitored from 350 to 600 nm for 70 min. The surface plasmon resonance band was formed at 450nm for silver nanoparticles. The synthesized silver nanoparticles containing cinnamon extract showed a higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activity compared to bark extract alone or silver nitrate. Free radical scavenging assay showed 22.41 % activity for silver nanoparticles derived from cinnamon bark extract. It could be concluded that C. zeylanicum bark extract can be used effectively in the production of potential antioxidant and antimicrobial nanoparticles for commercial application. Keywords: Cinnamon, Nanoparticles, Silver, Surface plasmon resonance