Green synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Chick pea and its activity against pathogens

There is an increasing commercial demand for nanoparticles due of their wide applicability in various areas such as electronics, catalysis, chemistry, energy, medicine etc. Metallic nanoparticles are traditionally synthesized by wet chemical techniques, where the chemicals used are quite often toxic and flammable. In this work, we describe a cost effective and environment friendly technique for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from 1mM AgNO3 via a green synthesis process using chick pea leaf extract as reducing as well as capping agent. Nanoparticles were characterized with the help of UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and TEM analysis which revealed the size of nanoparticles ranging from 10-50nm as well revealed their cubic and hexagonal structure. Further the nanoparticles synthesized by green route are found highly toxic against pathogenic bacteria and fungi viz. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas syringae and Sclerotiniasclerotiorum. Antibacterial effects of Ag nanoparticles obeyed a dual action mechanism of antibacterial activity, i.e., the bactericidal effect of Ag+ and membrane-disrupting effect of the polymer subunits.Moreover, properties of these nanoparticles can also be varied by changing conditions like pH, concentration of AgNO3 and temperature. The behavior of nanoparticles also changes with size and shape. The most important outcome of this work will be the development of value-added products from Chick pea.