Herbal Formulation Mediated Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles and its Antifungal Activity Against Candida albicans

Background: Candida albicans is known to cause a variety of diseases like oral candidiasis, vaginal candidiasis, invasive candidiasis etc. Although there are anti-fungal drugs in use for the treatment of these diseases, alternative medicine is required for their prophylaxis and improved prognosis. For this purpose, silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) can be used as antifungal agents. They are already in use as anti-microbial and anti-fungal agents in agriculture and can potentially be used as targeted drugs for the human body. The aim of this research is to study the anti-fungal efficacy of silver nanoparticles synthesised using a herbal formulation of Androgrophis paniculata and Moringa olifera against Candida albicans.

Materials and Method: Herbal formulation was created using the leaves of Androgrophis paniculata and Moringa olifera. Silver nitrate solution was added to this and the solution was transferred to an orbital shaker for silver nanoparticle preparation. The powder of Ag-NPs was created. The bioreduction of pure AgNO₃ was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy. Candida albicans was isolated using serial dilution method and a fresh fungal suspension was dispersed on Rose Bengal agar. Both disc diffusion and agar well diffusion methods were used. Different concentrations of Ag-NPs (50, 100 and 150 microliter) were incorporated into the wells, discs, and plates and these were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. The antifungal agents were used as positive control. Zone of inhibition was recorded in each plate. Proper documentation methods were used.

Results: Colour change was seen after the preparation of silver nanoparticles. The peak in UV-vis spectroscopy was seen to be at 400 nm. The zone of inhibition was seen to increase with an increase in the concentration of Ag-NPs in the agar wells. The plate dispersed with the highest concentration of Ag-NPs had the lowest cultural population.

Conclusion: The herbal synthesis of Ag-NPs is highly eco-friendly and should be practised more than chemical synthesis of the same. The antifungal activity of Ag-NPs was comparably effective to the control used and in the future they can be administered as an antifungal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of various types of Candidiasis.