Natural product-based nanoparticles: phytochemical insights, bioactivity profiling, and biomedical applications

Abstract

PDNPs serve as a bridge between natural product chemistry and nanomedicine. It is their unique physical and chemical properties that render PDNPs capable of targeting intractable infectious diseases, inflammation, cancer, and drug-resistant pathogens. This will dedicate most of the efforts to summarizing recent publications and researches on the extraction methods and bioactivity, and production of PDNPs and their applications in biomedicine. Polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and terpenoids rich plant extracts serve both as a reducing and capping agent epitomized in most cases to nanoparticle synthesis utilizing green methods. The biosynthesized nanoparticles fabricated in this manner, display significant antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and immune-modulatory prowess. Key characterization techniques with emphasis on UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, SEM/TEM, and DLS techniques and their relevance to evaluation of the nanoparticles for stability, shape, and size distribution are outlined. The bioactivity of PDNPs elicits positive responses on resistant pathogens and inflammatory mediators. This is evident in both the in vivo and in vitro studies. Investigational PDNP studies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), wound healing, drug delivery, and cancer diagnostics and therapeutics have been met with mounting enthusiasm. The new role of plant-derived exosome-like nanovesicles and vesicle-like nanoparticles in precision medicine is also discussed. Standardization, toxicology studies, and feasible research are emphasized based on data from over 35 recent research studies. Targeted delivery, regulatory harmonization, and sustainable development in nano-phytomedicine are among the future directions.