Mycosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles from the Morphologically Characterized Endophytic Fungi Isolated from “Sampa-Sampalukan” (Phyllanthus niruriLinn.) and their Antibacterial Property: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

I had the opportunity to be an observer during the National Science and Technology Fair (NSTF) 2017. Most of the studies dwelled on nanoparticles, but silver was proven best as antibacterial and antimicrobial agents. Therefore, it helped in the improvement of my proposal to prove the antibacterial property of the endophytic fungi of Phyllanthus niruriLinn. (P. niruri) Which is an active antibacterial agent and came up with a study that aims to synthesise silver nanoparticles from the endophytic fungi isolated from the roots, stem and leaves of P. niruri and to test their antibacterial property. There were five isolated endophytic fungi. Morphological characterisation revealed that these endophytic fungi are different from one another. These fungi were utilised in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles were further evaluated for its antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the study. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test for significant differences. The mycosynthesis of silver nanoparticles were characterised using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy from 200-460 nm which revealed the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. At 220 nm, S1 has a 1.397 mean peak absorbance. L3 has a 1.556 peak mean absorbance. S5 has a 1.058 peak mean absorbance. L4 has a 0.936 mean peak absorbance,andR5 has a 1.291 mean peak absorbance. The silver nanoparticles showed inactive antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The result suggested that the endophytic fungi derived from P. niruri offers eco-friendly production of silver nanoparticles but have ineffective antibacterial activity.