Sustainable Antimicrobial and Anticancer Agents: Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles Using Biebersteinia multifida DC.

Biebersteinia multifida DC. is a wild therapeutic plant, traditionally used for various medicinal applications. The aim of the present study is to extract bioactive constituents from the plants' roots and synthesize copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). Ethanolic extraction of the plant's roots yielded 19 bioactive compounds, recognized through gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), mainly including citraconic anhydride, γ-sitosterol, and 2-furancarboxaldehyde. The prepared CuNPs have been fully characterized. The biological activity evaluations revealed these CuNPs possess acceptable antibacterial and antifungal activities. Furthermore, the CuNPs displayed significant cytotoxic potency toward "4T1 breast cancer cells" while showing a relatively low cell death rate against the normal "HEK-293 kidney cell". In conclusion, our findings showed that the CuNPs can be synthesized from B. multifida roots with a simple, fast, and eco-friendly procedure. These CuNPs are efficient in antimicrobial and anticancer activities.