Enhanced bactericidal action and dye degradation of spicy roots’ extract-incorporated fine-tuned metal oxide nanoparticles

Nanoparticles fabricated with biological reducing agents to minimize toxic effects of chemicals are being focused worldwide. Biologically synthesized metal oxide nanomaterials have become integral part of nanotechnology. The current work is providing an insight on ZnO nanoparticles having root extract of Z. officinale and A. sativum in terms of catalytic and antimicrobial action potential. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Ultra-Violet visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles showed strong absorption at 365 nm with size range between 31.64 and 44 nm for Z. officinale and 28–45 nm in case of A. sativum-doped ZnO as revealed by UV–vis and XRD. The Z. officinale-doped nanoparticles demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity against multiple drug-resistant S. aureus at increasing concentrations (0.5, 1.0 mg/50 µl) and also actively degraded methylene blue (MB) dye. ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by green approach have potential to resolve emerging drug resistance against pathogenic bacterial diseases. Conclusively, significant inhibition zones resulted against (MDR) S. aureus ranging 1.80–2.25 mm and 2.3–3 mm at low and high concentrations for Z. officinale while, 1.7–2.05 mm and 2.2–2.7 mm for A. sativum-doped ZnO-NPs.