Antifungal potential of green synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPS) from the stem bark extract of Kigelia pinnata

Aqueous extract of bark of Kigelia pinnata was used as reducing source for the biological green synthesis of AgNPs. The synthesized particles were characterized by UV-Visible spectrum, XRD, SEM, dynamic light scattering (DLS). The anti-fungal activity of AgNPs was evaluated against Aspergillus niger (MTCC:281), Aspergillus flavus (MTCC:277) and Candida albicans (MTCC:227) by agar diffusion method. Particle size of AgNPs was measured as 76.4nm ± 6.3nm and Zeta potential was stable at -43.2mV using DLS analysis. SEM analysis measured the size of AgNPs as ~75nm. XRD analysis confirmed that the synthesized NPs were silver (Ag), based on the JCPDS entry 85-1355 and it is crystalline in nature. The size of the crystal was calculated as 10nm using the Scherrer formula. The AgNPs demonstrated significant anti-fungal activity against C. albicans (MIC:15.6µg/ml), A. niger (MIC:62.4µg/ml) and A. flavus (MIC:31.2µg/ml). These results confirm that AgNPs synthesized using K. pinnata barks could be used as potential antifungal agent against fungal pathogens.