Nanotechnology has opened new opportunities in the field of medical sciences and pharmaceuticals. Commercially, nanoparticles are in great demand in electronics, catalysis, chemistry, energy, and medicine. | Turkish Journal of Biology Research Article Turk J Biol (2013) 37: 645-654 © TÜBİTAK doi: Biopotential of Verbesina encelioides (stem and leaf powders) in silver nanoparticle fabrication Himakshi BHATI-KUSHWAHA, Chander Parkash MALIK* School of Life Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Nanotechnology has opened new opportunities in the field of medical sciences and pharmaceuticals. Commercially, nanoparticles are in great demand in electronics, catalysis, chemistry, energy, and medicine. Today in nanoparticle production green synthesis, using biological material including medicinal plants as a starting material, is in vogue. In the present investigation the powder extract (stems and leaves) of an important medicinal plant, Verbesina encelioides, was used for the biosynthesis of bionanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were screened and characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and FTIR analyses. The particles were then subjected to antimicrobial assay. Comparative analyses of the antimicrobial behavior of aqueous, ethanolic, and methanolic extracts and bionanoparticles against 2 bacteria (Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae) and 2 fungi (Aspergillus niger and A. flavus) are described. Key words: Nanoparticles, green synthesis, UV-visible spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, FTIR, antimicrobial assay 1. Introduction Nanotechnology deals with the production, manipulation, and use of material that ranges from less than a micron in size. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter or roughly the length of 3 atoms side by side (Kannan and Subbalaxmi, 2010). Bionanotechnology on the whole deals with the interaction of biology, chemistry, material sciences, engineering, and medicine. Silver .
