Silver nanoparticles obtained from the residual extract of the hydro distillation of Thymus vulgaris L. and its effect on Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. phaseoli

Abstract

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNP) from plants is a simple, fast and environmentally safe route. In the present work, the residual aqueous extract of the hydrodistillation process of the essential oil from Thymus vulgaris L. was evaluated as a possible source of reducing and stabilizing agents to obtain SNP, and the antimicrobial activity of the obtained product was evaluated against Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. phaseoli using the agar well- diffusion method. The results showed that the evaluated extract was promising for the green synthesis of the SNP, which were visually identified by the formation of a dark brown complex and by the presence of a peak of maximum absorption at 470 nm by using UV-VIS spectrophotometry. The antimicrobial activity of the SNP was similar to that shown by the ionic form of silver, and superior to the copper forms evaluated as positive controls, which suggests the need to go deeper in the physical-chemical characterization studies and the biological evaluation making possible the use of this residual.