Applications of Plant Flavonoids in the Green Synthesis of Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles and Impacts on Human Health

Abstract

Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that eliminate the generation of hazardous substances. In the last few years, natural products especially plant secondary metabolites have been extensively explored for their efficacy to synthesize the silver nanoparticle (AgNPs). The plant-based AgNPs are less hazardous, eco-friendly, energy efficient and safer as compared to chemically synthesized counterparts. Secondary metabolites are significantly found in plants, especially plant flavonoids which have significant role in the synthesis of AgNPs. The flavonoids-based AgNPs have attained much attention in the last few years. The current review presents the potency of flavonoids in the biosynthesis of AgNPs, as reducing and capping agent for the development of uniform size and shape AgNPs. An emphasis on the important role of FTIR in the identification of major functional groups in flavonoids for AgNPs synthesis has been reviewed. AgNPs have wide range of industrial, medical and agricultural applications and also have potential risk to human health. It was found that no such article is available that has discussed the role of plant flavonoids in the green synthesis of colloidal AgNPs.