Spatoglossum asperum J. Agardh mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles, characterization and evaluation antifungal activities

Abstract

We explored the possible use of the aqueous extract of marine brown alga Spatoglossum asperum as the medium for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and evaluated their antifungal activity. The silver nanoparticles synthesized using the algal extract were characterized by means of UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD and HR-TEM. The antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes were investigated and the results compared with standard Flucanazole as a control. The synthesized AgNPs exhibited a potent antifungal activity against tested fungal strains. The results of this study indicated that AgNPs have remarkable potential as an antifungal agent in treating infectious diseases.