Facile Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Novel Areca catechu Leaves Extract and Their In Vitro Antidiabetic and Anticancer Studies

In this work, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been prepared using Areca catechu leaves extract as a bio reducing agent through solution combustion synthesis. Several analytical techniques namely, XRD, UV–Vis spectroscopy, SEM with EDS and HR-TEM were used to validate the prepared ZnO NPs. XRD analysis revealed that synthesised NPs are crystalline in nature with average crystallite size of 29 nm. From the SEM and HR-TEM the morphology of prepared NPs exhibited the agglomeration with spherical shape and composition of elements confirmed by EDS respectively. Further, the prepared ZnO NPs tested for antidiabetic properties with yeast as model comparing to standard drug (Metronidazole). It is observed that decrease in uptake by yeast cell may be attributed to antidiabetic activity of ZnO NPs at higher concentrations. In addition, cytotoxic activity on the cell line of the Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) has shown that the prepared ZnO NPs have substantial potential anticancer activity with a concentration of 52.64 μg/ml (IC50 value).