The ability of Tragopogon graminivorous DC edible medicinal plant for optimum synthesis of zinc oxide green nanoparticles and evaluation of antibacterial properties of its extract and nanoparticles

In recent years, the green synthesis of nanoparticles has become an environment-friendly method developed significantly. In this method, plant extract as a reductive and stabilizing agent plays a key role in the synthesis of nanoparticles. In this study, the optimum conditions for the green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles are investigated using the extract of Tragopogon graminivorous DC edible-medicinal plants. Also, the antioxidant effect of the plant extract and antibacterial properties of nanoparticles and extract are evaluated. After preparation of the aqueous extract, its antioxidant properties were evaluated by the DPPH method. Then, parameters such as pH, zinc acetate dihydrate concentration, the volume of plant extract, temperature, and time were optimized. The green nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope techniques. Finally, antibacterial properties of extract and biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles were investigated. The results of the DPPH method showed that plant extract can be used as a reductive agent. Overall, it can be said that the presence of various chemical compounds that have caused the antioxidant properties of plant extract demonstrate the ability of the extract as a source of natural antioxidants. Also, plant extract and nanoparticles can be regarded as antibacterial agents.