In-vitro anticancer and antibacterial activities and comparative of eco-friendly synthesized silver nanoparticles using hull of Pistacia vera and rhizome of Sambucus ebulus extracts

[Display omitted] •Eco-friendly synthesis of biogenic Ag nanoparticles using Pistacia vera and Sambucus ebulus extracts.•The effects of contact time, concentration, pH and temperature on the synthesis of PV-AgNPs and SE-AgNPs were studied.•FESEM, EDS, XRD, DLS, TEM and UV–Vis analysis were applied to the characterization of biogenic silver nanoparticles.•PV-AgNPs and SE-AgNPs showed superior antibacterial properties against gram-negative and gram-positive microorganism.•High anticancer activity of PV-AgNPs and SE-AgNPs on MCF-7 (breast cancer) and AGS (human gastric carcinoma) as cancerous cell lines. The biogenic method of synthesizing nanoparticles offers an effective alternative to traditional chemical synthesis systems. Additionally, the rapid development of eco-friendly techniques for producing metallic nanoparticles is driven by their extensive applications in various scientific fields. The present study investigated the production of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using hull of Pistacia vera (PV-AgNPs) and rhizomes of Sambucus ebulus (SE-AgNPs) extracts. The eco-friendly synthesis of Ag nanoparticles was carried out by optimizing three physicochemical parameters, including silver salt concentration, temperature, and pH. Biogenic silver nanoparticles were characterized using several analytical techniques, including FESEM, EDS, XRD, TEM and UV–Vis. The average sizes of PV-AgNPs and SE-AgNPs were determined to be 19.32 nm and 15.63 nm, respectively, using X-ray diffraction patterns. These findings were consistent with the results obtained from scanning electron microscopy. The antibacterial efficacy of AgNPs was evaluated against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens. AgNPs exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. faecalis, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 12.5 µg/ml for PV-AgNPs. Additionally, for SE-AgNPs, the MIC value against S. aureus was found to be 2 µg/ml, indicating a potent antibacterial effect. Moreover, the anticancer potential of AgNPs was assessed using the MTT assay on MCF-7 (breast cancer) and AGS (human gastric carcinoma) cell lines as representative cancer cell models. The IC50 value of SE-AgNPs on MCF-7 and AGS was found to be 24.3 and 32.5 μg/ml, respectively. Hence, the present study indicates that biologically synthesized AgNPs have significant potential for exploitation in various biological applications.