Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles Using Hibiscus: Antioxidant, Anticancer and Toxicity Evaluation in Biological Models

ABSTRACT

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are metallic structures that have been widely studied owing to their outstanding physicochemical properties it can be implemented for biomedical applications. The synthesis process includes chemical, physical, and biological methods. However, green chemistry has received much attention for the synthesis using plants and microorganisms to reduce or avoid the use of chemicals and toxic intermediates. In this study, we propose the biosynthesis of GNPs using Hibiscus rosa‐sinensis (H. rosa‐sinensis) leaves, which act as reducing and stabilizing agents. A metabolomic study of the H. rosa‐sinensis extract used for NPs synthesis was performed using HRESI‐MS‐MS/MS data and molecular networking analysis. The synthesized NPs were characterized using several techniques. The impact was assessed using a cell culture and high‐throughput, cost‐effective zebrafish (ZF) model by incubating with varying NPs concentrations. The cytotoxicity study using Detroit 548 cells showed more than 50% viability at a concentration of 50 µg/mL and exhibited an anticancer effect on HepG2 cells. The mortality of ZF at 96 h post‐fertilization was evaluated, and the results showed negligible toxicity and biocompatibility. Thus, this study paves the way for the use of plant‐mediated NPs for both in vitro and in vivo applications as promising candidates for biomedical applications.