Green Synthesis and Characterization of Ginger-Derived Silver Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Their Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Anticancer Activities

The efficacy, targeting ability, and biocompatibility of plant-based nanoparticles can be exploited in fields such as agriculture and medicine. This study highlights the use of plant-based ginger nanoparticles as an effective and promising strategy against cancer and for the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections and related disorders. Ginger is a well-known spice with significant medicinal value due to its phytochemical constituents including gingerols, shogaols, zingerones, and paradols. The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) derived from ginger extracts could be an important non-toxic and eco-friendly nanomaterial for widespread use in medicine. In this study, AgNPs were biosynthesized using an ethanolic extract of ginger rhizome and their phytochemical, antioxidant, antibacterial, and cytotoxic properties were evaluated. UV-visible spectral analysis confirmed the formation of spherical AgNPs. FTIR analysis revealed that the NPs were associated with various functional biomolecules that were associated with the NPs during stabilization. The particle size and SEM analyses revealed that the AgNPs were in the size range of 80-100 nm, with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.510, and a zeta potential of -17.1 mV. The purity and crystalline nature of the AgNPs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The simple and repeatable phyto-fabrication method reported here may be used for scaling up for large-scale production of ginger-derived NPs. A phytochemical analysis of the ginger extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids, which can serve as active biocatalysts and natural stabilizers of metallic NPs. The ginger extracts at low concentrations demonstrated promising cytotoxicity against Vero cell lines with a 50% reduction in cell viability at 0.6-6 μg/mL. When evaluated for biological activity, the AgNPs exhibited significant antioxidant and antibacterial activity on several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species, including Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. This suggests that the AgNPs may be used against multi-drug-resistant bacteria. Ginger-derived AgNPs have a considerable potential for use in the development of broad-spectrum antimicrobial and anticancer medications, and an optimistic perspective for their use in medicine and pharmaceutical industry.