Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have gained significant attention in recent years due to their unique properties and potential applications in various fields, including medicine and biotechnology. Green synthesis methods using natural extracts or plant materials offer a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to fabricating Ag NPs. This research aimed to explore the green synthesis of Ag NPs and evaluate their antibacterial and antifungal activities. Ag NPs were green synthesized using a plant extract known for its reducing and capping properties. Three samples of silver nanoparticles synthesized using different plant extracts include using tea leaf, sparrow tongue tree and Eremurus extract. The synthesized Ag NPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR Spectroscopy, FE-SEM, and X-ray diffraction. The results demonstrated the successful green synthesis of stable and well-characterized Ag NPs using plant extracts. According to XRD results, the sample synthesized using tea leaf extract had the highest crystallite size of Ag nanoparticles (18.03 nm), followed by the sample synthesized using sparrow tongue tree extract (15.14 nm), and then by the sample synthesized using Eremurus extract (8.54 nm). The sample synthesized using tea leaf extract had the highest peak intensities for all three planes, indicating more and better crystallized Ag nanoparticles than the other two extracts. Also, the morphology and size of the Ag NPs synthesized with the three plant extracts vary depending on the type of extract used. The sample synthesized with tea extract has the largest and most uniform particles, which are well-separated and spherical. The UV-Vis results show that the sample synthesized with tea extract had the highest absorption intensity, followed by sparrow tongue extract and eremurus extract. The synthesized Ag NPs exhibited significant antibacterial and antifungal activities against selected pathogens. In terms of Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), which measures the concentration required to kill bacteria, the tea leaf extract had the lowest MBC values for S. aureus and E. coli, indicating that it was the most effective at killing these bacteria. For C. albicans, both tea leaf extract and Eremurus leaf extract had the same MBC value. Therefore, Ag NPs have potential applications in novel antimicrobial agents' development.
