Abstract
In this study, the dry leaves of C. spinosa L. were sequentially extracted using several solvents, such as water, ethanol, chloroform, and ethyl ether. The resulting extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening tests. C. spinosa L. leaf extract contains Alkaloids, Carbohydrates, Glycosides, Phytosterols, Saponins, Flavonoids, Tannins, Proteins, and Amino acids. Also, the results obtained showed that the cardiac glycoside and Tannins were present throughout all solvent extracts, while the Quinones were absent in the studied C. spinosa L. leaves. The Flame photometry data indicates that the C. spinosa L. leaves is rich in minerals such as K, Na, Ca and Ba. Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have been successfully synthesized using C. spinosa L. leaf extract and the nature of the synthesized nanoparticles was analyzed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, and XRD. The UV- Visible spectroscopy showed absorption peak at around 470 nm and at high extract concentration the absorption peak shifted to 430 nm. FTIR spectra showed that the biomolecules present in the extract were responsible for the reduction of Ag+ to Ag0 and the formation of Ag-NPs. The XRD study confirmed that the main product is Ag-NPs possessing a face-centered cubic structure with an average crystalline size of 16.14 nm.