Extracellular biosynthesis, characterisation and in-vitro antibacterial potential of silver nanoparticles using Agaricus bisporus

Microbial silver nanoparticles have been known to have bactericidal effects but the antimicrobial mechanism has not been clearly revealed. The use of microorganisms in the synthesis of nanoparticles emerges as an ecofriendly and exciting approach. Here we report on the extracellular synthesis method for the preparation of silver nanoparticles in water using the extract of Agaricus bisporus, a naturally occurring edible mushroom, as reducing and protecting agents. The silver nanoparticles were characterised by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The synthesised silver nanoparticles showed antibacterial activity against the multi-drug resistant Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial pathogens.