Inhibition of Bacteria Associated with Wound Infection by Biocompatible Green Synthesized Gold Nanoparticles from South African Plant Extracts

Abstract

Unlike conventional physical and chemical methods, the biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) is considered a green and non-toxic approach to produce biocompatible GNPs that can be utilized in various biomedical applications. This can be achieved by using plant-derived phytochemicals to reduce gold salt into GNPs. Several green synthesized GNPs have been shown to have antibacterial effects, which can be applied in wound dressings to prevent wound infections. Therefore, the aim of this study is to synthesize biogenic GNPs from the South African <i>Galenia africana</i> and <i>Hypoxis hemerocallidea</i> plants extracts and evaluate their antibacterial activity, using the Alamar blue assay, against bacterial strains that are known to cause wound infections. Additionally, we investigated the toxicity of the biogenic GNPs to non-cancerous human fibroblast cells (KMST-6) using 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. In this paper, spherical GNPs, with particle sizes ranging from 9 to 27 nm, were synthesized and fully characterized. The GNPs from <i>H. hemerocallidea</i> exhibited antibacterial activity against all the tested bacterial strains, whereas GNPs produced from <i>G. africana</i> only exhibited antibacterial activity against <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>. The GNPs did not show any significant toxicity towards KMST-6 cells, which may suggest that these nanoparticles can be safely applied in wound dressings.