Anti-diabetic and anti-microbial activity of aspalathus linearis and syzygium aromaticum formulation mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles

INTRODUCTION: Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) exhibit a wide range of biomedical applications majorly used as antiinflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and anti-microbial activity and other biomedical applications because they show less toxicity and are very compatible. Zinc metal is an inorganic and essential element in the human body at the trace level. ZnO NPs are also GRAS substances (Generally Recognized As Safe). This study's main objective is synthesizing zinc oxide nanoparticles using red tea & clove mediated herbal formulation and screening for its antimicrobial, and anti-diabetic properties.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Red tea and clove-mediated ZnO NPs were synthesized using the green synthesis method. The anti-microbial activity was tested against oral pathogens using the agar well diffusion method, while the anti-diabetic activity was estimated using the alpha-amylase inhibitory assay method by using red tea and clovemediated ZnO NPs.

RESULTS: ZnO NPs were successfully synthesized using red tea and clove-formulated extract. The synthesized ZnO NPs using Aspalathus linearis (red tea) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove) mediated ZnO NPs were characterized using UV visible spectrophotometry and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) analysis. The green synthesized ZnO NPs show promising anti-microbial activity by exhibiting a 12 mm zone of inhibition against S. aureus, 11 mm in E. faecalis, 9 mm in S. mutans, and 11 mm in C. albicans. In anti-diabetic activity, the green synthesized ZnO NPs showed a maximum inhibition percentage of up to 80% at the maximum concentration of 50 µg/mL.

CONCLUSION: Green synthesized ZnO NPs using red tea and clove showed maximum efficacy in anti-microbial properties which can lead to huge potential use as antibacterial agents. Simultaneously, anti-diabetic activity showed an excellent inhibition percentage which can be a potent therapeutic agent in the field of nanomedicine in diabetes management.