Green Approach for the Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles and its Antibacterial Effect against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Nowadays, nanotechnology has gained promising advantages in the medical and pharmaceutical field by improving the delivery of drug to the target site. Morinda citrifolia L. belongs to the genus Morinda of the family Rubiaceae and know as ‘Pokok Mengkudu’ in Malay. Aqueous extract of Morinda citrifolia treated with copper (II) sulfate results in the formation of copper oxide nanoparticles. The size of synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) was 10-30nm spherical in shape using TEM analysis. UV spectrophotometer showed the absorption peak at 306nm. SEM analyses confirm the surface morphology of nanoparticles showed spherical shaped particles. FTIR spectroscopy showed broad absorption bands between 2800 and 4000 cm⁻¹  showed C-O, OH, C=O stretch are associated with nanoparticles. Zeta potential showed the value of 21.8 mV and -6.45 mV confirms the stability of nanoparticles. These CuONPs showed good antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 33591) 20mm, Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 35984) 16 mm, Salmonella typhi, 17mm Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) 18mm and Vibrio cholerae 20mm. CuONPs also had significant antibacterial properties against Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (ATCC 4330). These CuONPs also show good synergistic affect along with Ceftriaxone, Gentamycin and Amoxicillin antibiotic against bacterial pathogens respectively.