An overview on use of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis in green synthesis of nanoparticles

Metallic and non-metallic nanoparticles undoubtedly have plenty of applications in environmental, biomedical, and analytical sciences. Owing to wide utilities, so far, numerous attempts have been made for the eco-friendly fabrication of these nanoparticles, using different plant, animal, and microbial extracts. In the pursuit of the best reducing and capping entities for the reduction of precursors, several attempts were made using the plant Nyctanthes arbor-tristis , an evergreen plant belonging to the family Nyctanthaceae. This article focuses on the applications of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis extracts in the fabrication of nanoparticles of various metals such as silver, gold, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and copper oxide. This plant is reported to contain several phytochemicals such as steroids, iridoid glycosides, tannins, terpenes, and triterpenoids. In respective research attempts, after synthesis and characterization, these nanoparticles were evaluated for one or more applications such as antimicrobial activity against microbes, cytotoxicity against cell lines, and/or photocatalytic activity using dye. In a few cases, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential were also evaluated using well-established protocols. The use of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis extracts indicated the involvement of its phytocompounds in reducing the metal source and stabilizing the nanoparticles. In conclusion, it could be noted that nanoparticles have better antimicrobial activity and photocatalytic potential over the same plant extracts. Graphical Abstract