Leaf extract from the endemic plant Peumus boldus as an effective bioproduct for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) from plant extracts have emerged as a promising methodology for the fabrication of metallic NPs, as it involves an easy, fast, low-cost, and environmentally friendly bioprocess. In the present study, we propose aqueous extracts from the endemic-medicinal plant Peumus boldus (“Boldo”) as an easy, fast, low-cost, and efficient bioproduct for the green synthesis of silver NPs (AgNPs). Our results indicate that room temperature conditions, short reaction time (only 3 h), low concentrations (1%) of leaf extracts of P. boldus, and silver nitrate salts (2 mM) were sufficient to biosynthesize AgNPs in a uniform size (18 nm) and shape distribution (spherical). In addition, stable and pure AgNPs were obtained in this process at the same time.