Phenolic and sterolic profile of a Phyllanthus amarus extract and characterization of newly synthesized silver nanoparticles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify and quantify some biologically active compounds from the Phyllanthus amarus species, followed by the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles. For identification and quantification purposes, different methods were used, such as UV-Vis spectrophotometric methods and HPLC-UV-MS method for polyphenols analysis, LC-MS methods for methoxylated flavonoids and phytosterols analysis. After identification, the following compounds were quantified: p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, rutoside, hispidulin, acacetin, casticin, stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol, and campesterol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification and quantification of hispidulin, casticin, acacetin, and ergosterol in Phyllanthus amarus. Furthermore, the extract was used in order to obtain silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, TEM, EDX. Additionally, the nanoparticles were tested for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The results confirmed that Phyllanthus amarus is a source of biological compounds that can be used for nanoparticles synthesis, with potential health use.