Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Alstonia Macrophylla Leaf Extract and Their In-Vitro Anticancer Activity

A simple, eco-friendly, economical and versatile technique was developed to prepare highly crystalline ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using alstonia macrophylla leaf extract. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the ZnO NPs had a single phase nature with the wurtzite structure, which was in good agreement with FTIR, UV-Vis, and TGA/DTA analyses. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images revealed nanometer dimension of the NPs and well defined hexagonal phase. The cytotoxicity of the ZnO NPs with various concentrations (1-100 mu g/mL) was measured in human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast cancer), HepG2 (liver cancer), and A-549 (human lung alveolar epithelial) cells. After the exposure, various cytotoxicity assays, and cellular morphology studies showed that the cancer cell viability decreased with increasing ZnO NP concentration. The synthesized ZnO NPs via a green synthetic route could be developed as anti-cancer agents against a wide range of cancer cells.