Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and its antibacterial and antifungal activities towards Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacterial strains and different species of Candida fungus

Biomimetic and economic method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with controlled size has been reported in presence of shape-directing cetlytrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Biochemical reduction of Ag⁺ ions in micellar solution with an aqueous lemon extract produced spherical and polyhedral AgNPs with size ranging from 15 to 30 nm. The influence of [CTAB] and [lemon extract] on the size of particles, fraction of metallic silver and their antimicrobial properties is discussed. The AgNPs were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities (antibacterial and antifungal) against different pathogenic organisms. For this purpose, AgNPs were tested against two model bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC3160) and Escherichia coli (MTCC405)) and three species of Candida fungus (Candida albicans (ATCC90028), Candida glabrata (ATCC90030) and Candida tropicalis (ATCC750). AgNPs were found to be highly toxic towards both bacteria. The inhibition action was due to the structural changes in the protein cell wall.