Natural products have contributed conspicuously to the development of innovative nanomedicines. Hence, the interface between nanomaterial science and plant natural products may bestow comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for tackling diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. Natural product-derived carbon dots (NPdCDs) have revealed noteworthy attributes in the fields of cancer theranostics, microbial imaging, drug sensing and drug delivery. As plants consist of a cocktail of bioactive phytomolecules, the NPdCDs can be anticipated to have medicinal properties, biocompatibility, photo-stability and easy functionalization. NPdCDs have wide-ranging applications. The primary objective of this review is to comment on recent developments in the use of NPdCDs, with special reference to their application in cancer biology. The future of the use of NPdCDs has also been considered.
Keywords: cancer biology; carbon dots; fluorescence; nanomaterials; nanoprobe; natural products.