One-step biofabrication of copper nanoparticles from Aegle marmelos correa aqueous leaf extract and evaluation of its anti-inflammatory and mosquito larvicidal efficacy

Abstract

The present investigation is focused on the biofabrication of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) using Aegle marmelos Correa aqueous leaf extract as a reducing agent. The synthesized CuNPs were successfully characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD, SEM and AFM studies. The phytosynthesis of CuNPs was done at room temperature (30 °C) for 24 h and at 60 °C, and 100 °C for 4 h. The green synthesis of spherical-shaped CuNPs biofabricated from Aegle marmelos Correa with a face centered cubic structure showed average particle sizes of 50–100 nm and 100–200 nm, which is inconsistent with the particle size calculated by the XRD Scherer equation. We further explored the in vitro anti-inflammatory and mosquito larvicidal efficacy of biosynthesized CuNPs with crude leaf extracts of Aegle marmelos Correa against three blood feeding parasites, namely, Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. A comparative study was performed on the bioefficacy of different sizes of CuNPs coated with Aegle marmelos Correa with that of CuNPs synthesized by a chemical reduction method using NaBH₄. The results obtained clearly show that CuNPs (50–100 nm) of Aegle marmelos Correa possess good anti-inflammatory efficacy, with a percentage inhibition of 78.90 ± 1.23 for the membrane stabilization method and 74.18 ± 1.48 for the albumin denaturation method at a concentration of 100 μg ml⁻¹, which is comparable to standard Aceclofenac, and better larvicidal activity against Anopheles stephensi with an LC₅₀ of 500.06 ppm, when compared to crude leaf extracts of Aegle marmelos Correa and that of standard Temephos.