Antioxidant and Antibacterial Profiling of Pomegranate-pericarp Extract Functionalized-zinc Oxide Nanocomposite

With the advancement in green nanotechnology, considerable attention is being given to the synthesis of different kinds of nanomaterials for biological applications. In this study, zinc oxide nanocomposites (ZnO NPs) were synthesized using Punica granatum L. (Pomegranate) pericarp ethanolic extract (PE) by the chemical precipitation method. The prepared ZnO NPs showed a characteristic peak at 270 nm in the UV-Vis spectrophotometer and chemical bond stretching in the Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra, indicated the formation of PE-functionalized zinc oxide nanocomposite (PE-ZnO NPs). The SEM results showed agglomerated PE-ZnO NPs of a spherical shape with an average size of 80–100 nm. Moreover, biological assessment of the PE-ZnO NPs revealed significant scavenging activity in DPPH (116.5%) and ABTS(+) (95.2%) radical assay methods, and substantial antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis, and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, PE-ZnO NPs showed about 96.3% of cell viability for human HaCaT cells at the maximum concentration (100 µg/mL), marked as a reliable bioactive agent. Therefore, the developed PE-ZnO NPs were elucidated with substantial ROS scavenger and non-antibiotic antibacterial agent and hence, can be applied in respective biological applications.