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Dyes are well known major pollutants in wastewater discharged by various textile industries which are toxic to human beings and aquatic life. It is necessary to remove these colorants from water with low-cost yet effective method by which these pollutants can be removed from the water bodies. Current study has been designed to develop cost-effective material for the removal of dyes in wastewater along with the application of composite to inhibit the growth of Gram negative (GN) and Gram positive (GP) bacterium. Nanocomposite (Ag-NiO2@PVA) of silver and nickel was synthesized by the chemical reduction method and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a stabilizing medium. Nanocomposite (NC) was characterized employing different techniques including XRD, SEM, and FTIR which not only confirmed its synthesis but also provided their structure and morphology. The hexagonal close packed nanocomposite was tested for the catalytic degradation of different azo and anthraquinone dyes including methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and eosin yellow (EY). The degradation of MO, MB and EY was recorded in 20, 16 and 20 min with percentage removal 89.26, 95.88 and 96.56 % respectively. Antibacterial potential of the nanocomposite was assessed against different GN and GP bacterial strains namely Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and the as-synthesized Ag-NiO2@PVA exhibited strong zone of inhibition against all types of bacterial strains mentioned herein. Nanocomposite was recovered and analyzed after dye degradation as well as the antibacterial studies have confirmed stability and recyclability of the nanocomposite. Results of the current study strongly recommend the composite for wastewater treatment applications i.e., removal of different dyes and pathogens. Silver and nickel based nanocomposite can be synthesized and modified followed by the stabilization with PVA for different applications in material sciences.

The fruits of wild fig, native to Soon valley of Pakistan, were appraised for phenolic compounds and high-value nutrients. These fruits were shade-dried and extracted with different solvents of varying polarity to recover a wide range of antioxidant components, where hydroxyethanol exhibited highest extraction yield of antioxidant compounds. Among others, hydroxyethanol-derived crude concentration extracts (CCEs) and phenolic rich fractions (PRFs) showed greater amount of total phenolic, flavonoids and superior biological properties. The fruits of tested fruits were found to possess potassium (11.34 g/kg) and calcium (4.19 g/kg) as major elements, glucose (5.63g/100g DW) as dominant natural sugar and acetic acid (2.40 mg/100 g of dry matter) as principal organic acid. There was a considerable (p

The present study reports the phenolic antioxidants and phytonutrients profiling in the wild jujube fruits which are naturally grown in Soon valley of Pakistan. Phenolic antioxidant components were recovered from shade-dried wild jujube fruits using various extracting solvents. Among all extracting solvents tested, aqueous ethanol recovered the maximum amount of extractable antioxidant compounds from the fruits of wild jujube. Crude concentrated extracts (CCEs) and phenolic rich fractions (PRFs) recovered from wild jujube fruits using aqueous ethanol contained higher concentration of total phenolics and flavonoids along with superior biological potential. ICP-OES analysis disclosed the occurrence of twenty-five minerals, where potassium (14.80 g/kg) and calcium (1.81 g/kg) were the dominant macro elements. The tested wild fruits juice was found to contain individual natural sugars including galactose (1.27 g/100 g dry weight), glucose (1.07 g/100 g dry weight), sucrose (0.70 g/100 g dry weight) and xylose (0.04 g/100 g dry weight); and gluconic acid (2.10 mg/100 g of dry matter) as dominant organic acid when analyzed on HPLC. The concentration of phenolic antioxidants and biological activities vary significantly (p

In this study, wild olive fruits were evaluated for the occurrence of phenolic antioxidant components and valuable nutrients which are distributed wildly in Soon valley of Pakistan. The shade-dried fruits of wild olive were extracted using different solvents to recover phenolic antioxidants. The highest concentration of extractable antioxidant components was recovered from tested fruits using aqueous ethanol compared to other solvents used. Crude concentrated extracts (CCEs) and phenolic rich fractions (PRFs) of tested fruits using hydroxyethanol were found to contain higher amount of total phenolic compounds and total flavonoid compounds along with superior biological attributes. According to ICP-OES analysis, potassium (17.96 g/kg) was the dominant macro element among other identified twenty-five minerals. The tested wild olive fruits juice was found to contain individual natural sugars including galactose (4.92 g/100 g dry weight), sucrose (2.75 g/100 g dry weight), glucose (0.73 g/100 g dry weight); and succinic acid (8.80 mg/100 g of dry matter) as major organic acid when analyzed on HPLC. Oleic acid (47.41 %) was the major monounsaturated fatty acid in the oil extracted from tested fruits. The concentration of phenolic antioxidants and biological activities vary significantly (p

In the current study, a green and facile route for the synthesis of iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) was adopted. The FeNPs were fabricated via a single step green route using aqueous leaves extract of Plumeria obtusa (P. obtusa) as a capping/reducing and stabilizing agents. The FeNPs were characterized by UV/Vis (Ultraviolet/Visible), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) techniques. The FeNPs were of spheroidal shape with average size of 50 nm. The biosynthesized FeNPs were further evaluated for their biological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant and biocompatibility. The FeNPs displayed auspicious antimicrobial activity against bacterial (E. coli, B. subtilis) and fungal strains (A. niger) and S. commune. The test performed against red blood cells (RBCs) lysis (1.22 ± 0.02%) and macrophage (31 ± 0.09%) showed biocompatible nature of FeNPs. In vitro cytotoxicity against AU565 (82.03 ± 0.08–23.65 ± 0.065%) and HeLa (88.61 ± 0.06–33.34 ± 0.06%) cell lines showed cell viability loss in dose dependent manner (FeNPs 25–100 μg/mL). The antioxidant activities values were determined through DPPH, TRPA, NO and H2O2 assays with values 70.23 ± 0.02%, 76.65 ± 0.02 μg AAE/mg, 74.43 ± 0.04% and 67.34 ± 0.03%, respectively. Based on the bioactivities, the green synthesized FeNPs have potential for therapeutic applications.