Efficient synthesis of aqueous soluble Silymarin nanocrystals from Silybum marianum and assessment of their antibacterial and cytotoxicity insights.

In this paper, aqueous-soluble silymarin nanocrystals (NCs) were prepared using Silybum marianum extract via the solvent evaporation method. The synthesized silymarin NCs were identified by XRD, FESEM/TEM, EDX, FT-IR, and UV-Vis procedures. The XRD pattern of silymarin NCs has shown amorphous structures. FESEM and TEM images of silymarin NCs exhibited spherical shapes with a size of about 23.14 nm. Also, the FTIR spectra revealed the presence of the functional groups in silymarin and silymarin NCs. The UV-Vis results of silymarin NCs donated strong absorption bands in the range of 230 and 285 nm. The results of the MTT assay indicated that silymarin NCs had minimum toxicity on cancer MDA-MB-231 cells with an IC50 amount of 420.3 µg/mL. Also, according to the results of the antibacterial tests, silymarin NCs exhibited superior efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC) and Escherichia coli (ATCC) in comparison with clinical strains.