ABSTRACT
Various biological methods are being recognized for the fabrication of silver nanoparticles, which are used in several fields. The phytosynthesis of nanoparticles came out as a cost effective and enviro-friendly approach. When root bark extract of Berberis lycium was treated with silver ions, they reduced to silver nanoparticles, which were spherical, crystalline, size ranged from 10-100nm and capped by biomolecules. Synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy [SEM], Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy [EDX], Transmission Electron Microscopy [TEM], X-Ray Diffraction [XRD] and Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy [FTIR]. The plant mediated synthesized silver nanoparticles showed pronounced antimicrobial activities against both Gram negative bacteria [Escherichia coli, Klebseilla pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa] and Gram positive bacteria [Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis]. The plant mediated process proved to be non-toxic and low cost contender as reducing agent for synthesizing stable silver nanoparticles