# Unveiling the Antioxidant Profiling, Cytotoxicity and Wound Healing Potential of Biocompatible Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Solanum melongena

## TL;DR

This study explores how silver nanoparticles made from eggplant extract can heal wounds more effectively than the extract alone, with reduced toxicity and enhanced healing properties.

## Contribution

The study introduces an eco-friendly method to synthesize biocompatible silver nanoparticles from Solanum melongena with demonstrated wound-healing efficacy and safety.

## Key findings

- Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Solanum melongena showed higher antioxidant activity (81.87%) compared to the aqueous extract (68.67%).
- AgNPs exhibited strong antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with a 19.5 mm zone of inhibition against B. subtilis.
- In vivo tests on rabbits showed AgNPs significantly reduced wound size, with enhanced fibroblast proliferation and collagen deposition.

## Abstract

Medicinal plants play a vital role in wound healing and offer a viable solution to pathogen resistance to pharmaceuticals. Current study aimed to unveil the nutritional profile, antioxidant, cytotoxicity and wound healing potential of aqueous extract and synthesized silver nanoparticles of
Solanum melongena
. The crude extract was evaluated for nutritional profile via proximate analysis and determined the total flavonoids content (TFC) and total phenolic contents (TPC). The results showed higher nutritional value with 23.70 and 13.35 g/100 g DW of total fiber and crude protein content, respectively. The TPC and TFC analyses revealed the presence of significant phenolic and flavonoid content with 78.26 mg GAE/g DW & 89.93 mg CE/g DW at 90 mg/mL. Antioxidant potential was evaluated through DPPH assay, resulting in 68.67% (aqueous) and 81.87% (AgNPs) inhibition of free radicals. The promising antibacterial activity was shown by AgNPs against both Gram‐positive (
B. subtilis
) and Gram‐negative (
E. coli, P
.
vulgaris
,
S. typhimurium, and
P. multocida) bacterial strains, with a 19.5 mm ZOI recorded against
B. subtilis. The biocompatibility was established through hemolytic assay exhibiting less than 5% hemolysis. The synthesized AgNPs of
S. melongena
were characterized, and SEM revealed a diameter of AgNPs as 30–52 nm. Through XRD analysis, average crystalline size was recorded as 15.37 nm and FTIR identified the key functional groups. LCMS analysis revealed the presence of key phytochemicals: campestral, cycloeucalenone, and neochlorogenic acid. The wound healing potential using crude and AgNPs was evaluated using eight groups of rabbits. Both extracts significantly reduced the wound size in rabbits, with nanoparticles showing higher efficacy. Histopathological studies revealed the reduced inflammation and markedly increased angiogenesis, fibroblast proliferation, re‐epithelialization and collagen deposition, confirming their potent wound‐healing activity. This study concludes that silver nanoparticles act as a potential carrier for drug delivery in targeted wounds, resulting in a significant reduction in wound size.

This comparative study demonstrates the wound‐healing potential of aqueous and AgNPs‐synthesized
Solanum melongena
extracts. The eco‐friendly approach of AgNPs synthesis using plant extracts exhibit enhanced biocompatibility due to natural reducing agents that minimize toxicity and ensures safer and more effective biomedical applications. Phytochemical analysis confirmed substantial TPC and TFC, and LC–MS identified the key phytocompounds campestral, cycloeucalenone, and neochlorogenic acid. In vivo wound healing study showed that AgNPs result in higher wound‐size reduction than crude extract, accompanied by reduced inflammation and enhanced fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis, collagen deposition, and re‐epithelialization.