In the present study, the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria were investigated. Glycyrrhizin (GL) was used as a reducing agent and stabilizer to rapidly prepare the AgNPs. The distinctive absorption peak at 419 nm confirmed the formation of GL-reduced AgNPs. The TEM and particle size analysis shows that the prepared GL-reduced AgNPs were mostly circular with good dispersion and a relatively uniform particle size of 35 nm on average. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis was performed to identify the possible biomolecules in the capping and active stabilization of the GL-reduced AgNPs. The antibacterial activity of the GL-reduced AgNPs was analyzed with the Oxford cup diffusion method and filter paper diffusion method. The experimental results show that these properties endowed the GL-reduced AgNPs with high antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and lay a foundation for the use of colloidal silver in antibacterial applications. The GL-reduced AgNPs also had stronger antibacterial activity than sodium citrate-reduced AgNPs, which indicates the advantages of GL-reduced AgNPs compared with sodium citrate-reduced AgNPs in inducing bacteriostasis. The cytotoxicity of GL-reduced AgNPs on human kidney epithelial 293A (HEK293) cells was evaluated via the MTT assay. The results show that GL-reduced AgNPs had lower toxicity to HEK293 cells than sodium citrate-AgNPs, which indicates that the as-prepared GL-reduced AgNPs are environmentally friendly.
Keywords: antibacterial; glycyrrhizin; green synthesis; silver nanoparticles.