Synthesis, characterization, and determination of antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of zinc oxide nanoparticles from green leaves of apricot (prunus armeniaca L.) plant

Aim: To synthesize and characterize zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using apricot leaf extract and to determine their antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Materials and Methods The green synthesis of ZnO NPs was performed using the green leaves of the apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) plant. The leaf extract was obtained by boiling, then synthesized by mixing with a zinc acetate solution at 80 °C and 1200 rpm for 6 hours. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV-vis, SEM, EDX, FT-IR, XRD, and TGA-DTA analyses. Furthermore, their anticancer properties against RPE-1, OVCAR-3, and HCT-116 cell lines were evaluated, and their microbiological activities were determined. Results: In the UV-vis analysis of ZnO NPs, a color change was observed, and a maximum absorption wavelength was recorded at 319.98 nm. FT-IR spectra exhibited characteristic peaks in the ranges of 3317–2918 cm-1,2340 cm-1,1729–1028 cm-1, and 992–600 cm-1. Images obtained through SEM, TEM, and AFM micrographs revealed that the nanoparticles possessed hexagonal and spherical morphologies. The presence of strong Zn peaks was observed in the graph obtained from EDX analysis. According to the XRD analysis results, the nanoparticles were determined to have a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. In the TGA-DTA analysis, mass losses of 18.95%, 26.50%, and 22.31% were determined to occur within the temperature ranges of 25–283.63 °C, 283.63–538.51 °C, and 538.51–760.32 °C, respectively. The LC-MS/MS analysis of the apricot leaf extract confirmed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, glucosinolates, phenolic acids, and glycosides. Regarding the anticancer activity of ZnO NPs, cell viability rates (%) for RPE-1, OVCAR-3, and HCT-116 cells at 24 hours with doses of 250, 500, and 1000 µg/mL were measured as 28.88–21.91, 28.20–23.37, and 76.82–27.15, respectively. At 48 hours, these rates were determined as 96.65–42.00, 70.92–31.79, and 70.67–36.00, respectively. Conclusion: ZnO NPs exhibited strong antimicrobial activity at lower concentrations than the reference antibiotics used. Furthermore, they demonstrated high cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines. Keywords: Apricot leaf, Zinc oxide, Nanoparticle, Green synthesis, Antimicrobial, Anticancer.