Green synthesis, characterization, evaluation of anticancer and antioxidant potentials of gold and copper oxide nanoparticles using jujube fruit extract.
Demir Becerekli H, Akbaş F
Green Synthesis
PubMedHumble jujube fruit, which you might grow in your backyard or find at a farmers market, contains natural compounds powerful enough to drive cutting-edge cancer research — turning a familiar fruit into a potential source of life-saving medicine.
Researchers took jujube fruit (also known as Chinese date) and used its natural juice as a kind of chemical toolkit to build incredibly tiny particles out of gold and copper. These particles were then tested against cancer cells and shown to attack them effectively while leaving healthy cells relatively unharmed. The copper-based particles were especially potent against cancer, while the gold ones were better at neutralizing the kind of cell damage linked to aging and disease.
Key Findings
Both gold and copper oxide nanoparticles made from jujube extract killed cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner across three cancer cell lines (lung, breast, and neuroblastoma), while causing significantly less harm to healthy fibroblast cells.
Copper oxide nanoparticles showed stronger anticancer (cytotoxic) effects than gold nanoparticles, highlighting that the choice of metal meaningfully changes biological behavior.
Gold nanoparticles outperformed copper oxide nanoparticles in antioxidant activity, measured by two standard free-radical scavenging tests (DPPH and ABTS).
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists used extract from jujube fruit to create two types of nanoparticles — tiny gold and copper oxide particles — that showed promising ability to kill cancer cells and neutralize harmful free radicals, all through an eco-friendly process.
Abstract Preview
Metallic nanoparticles synthesized via plant extracts under green chemistry principles exhibit unique physicochemical and biological properties. In this study, for the first time, gold nanoparticle...
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Jujube, sometimes jujuba, scientific name Ziziphus jujuba, and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related Indian jujube, Z. mauritiana. The jujube tolerates a diverse ...