Green-route synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles via Solanum surattense leaf extract: Characterization, biomedical applications and their ecotoxicity assessment of zebrafish embryo model

Biogenic synthesis (green synthesis) of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles has recently become important to researchers due to its improved antibacterial properties and associated applications. The present investigation has been carried out to produce zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using a leaf aqueous extract of Solanum surattense as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The synthesized NPs have been studied using UV–visible, FT-IR, XRD, SEM-TEM, and EDX analysis. The highest UV peak produced by the synthesized ZnO NPs was 294 nm. The resulting ZnO NPs were crystalline, confirmed by XRD measurements. FT-IR demonstrates the presence of OH stretching and CC bending, functional groups of the plant extract stabilizing activity on the NP's outer layer. SEM & TEM investigation confirmed that the NPs were spherical, and their diameters were 25.14 ± 7.4 nm. At a 100 μg/mL concentration, the NPs showed significant antibiofilm activity against Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis. Furthermore, the ZnO NPs had remarkable antibacterial activity against two targeted bacteria. In ABTS and DPPH scavenging tests, ZnO NP's antioxidant functions significantly surpassed the ascorbic acid standard. The ZnO NPs significantly inhibited the MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line in vitro, and their IC50 value was 40 μg/mL. The pkCSM server and ADMETlab2 online services analyzed the pharmacokinetics characteristics. Tetratriacontane and streptomycin binding energies have been identified to be -8.7 and -7.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Lastly, the appearance of shorter bodies was observed only at doses above 5 mg/mL in the toxicity test done on zebrafish eggs. The work shows that phyto-synthesized ZnO NPs employing S. surattense extract may be an alternative biological agent in the future.