Extracellular red Monascus pigment-mediated rapid one-step synthesis of silver nanoparticles and its application in biomedical and environment

The development of a safe and eco-friendly method for metal nanoparticle synthesis has an increasing demand, due to emerging environmental and biological harms of hazardous chemicals used in existing nanosynthesis methods. The present investigation reports a rapid one-step, eco-friendly and green approach for the formation of nanosized silver particles (AgNPs) using extracellular non-toxic-colored fungal metabolites ( Monascus pigments—MPs). The formation of nanosized silver particles utilizing Monascus pigments was confirmed after exposure of reaction mixture to sunlight, by visually color change and further established by spectrophotometric analysis. The size, shape, and topography of synthesized MPs–AgNPs were well-defined using different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, i.e., FE-SEM, HR-TEM, and DLS. The average size of MPs–AgNPs was found to be 10–40 nm with a spherical shape which was highly stable and dispersed in the solution. HR-TEM and XRD confirmed crystalline nature of MPs–AgNPs. The biocidal potential of MPs–AgNPs was evaluated against three bacterial pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli , and Staphylococcus aureus and it was observed that the MPs–AgNPs significantly inhibited the growth of all three bacterial pathogens. The anti-biofilm activity of MPs–AgNPs was recorded against antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa . Besides, the colorimetric metal sensing using MPs–AgNPs was studied. Among the metals tested, the selective Hg 2+ -sensing potential at micromolar concentration was observed. In conclusion, this is the rapid one-step (within 12–15 min), environment-friendly method for synthesis of AgNPs and synthesized MPs–AgNPs could be used as a potential antibacterial agent against antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. Graphical abstract