Green Route to Produce Silver Nanoparticles Using the Bioactive Flavonoid Quercetin as a Reducing Agent and Food Anti-Caking Agents as Stabilizers

In previous work, the isolated polyphenolic compound (PPC) quercetin was used as a reducing agent in the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), testing two types of quercetin. This PPC is a bioactive molecule that provides the electrons for the reduction of silver ions to zerovalent silver. The results demonstrated that quercetin in dietary supplement presentation was better than reagent grade quercetin for the synthesis of AgNPs, and the difference between them was that the dietary supplement had microcrystalline cellulose (CM) in its formulation. Therefore, this dietary anti-caking agent was added to the reagent-grade quercetin to validate this previously found improvement. AgNPs were obtained at neutral pH by a green route using quercetin as a reducing agent and microcrystalline cellulose and maltodextrin as stabilizing agents. In addition, different ratios were evaluated to find the optimum ratio. Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Z-potential, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) were used for characterization. The antibacterial activity of the S. aureus and E. coli agent was tested by the disk diffusion and microdilution method. According to the results, this green synthesis needs the use of food stabilizer when working at pH 7 to maintain AgNPs in the long term. The ideal ratio of reducing the agent:stabilizing agent was 1:2, since with this system stable AgNPs are obtained for 2 months and with improved antimicrobial activity, validating this method was ecologically and economically viable.

Automated summary

In this study, isolated polyphenolic compound quercetin was utilized as a reducing agent to synthesize silver nanoparticles at neutral pH, with microcrystalline cellulose and maltodextrin as stabilizing agents. The ideal ratio of quercetin to stabilizing agent was found to be 1:2, resulting in stable AgNPs with improved antimicrobial activity for 2 months. This eco-friendly and cost-effective method demonstrated the importance of using food stabilizer for long-term stability of AgNPs.