In situ green synthesis of biocompatible ginseng capped gold nanoparticles with remarkable stability.

We report herein an unprecedented one-step green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (G-AuNps), using naturally occurring Korean red ginseng root (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) without any special reducing/capping agents. The AuNps generated through this ginseng-mediated process did not aggregate suggesting that the phytochemicals present in them serve as excellent coatings on the nanoparticles and thus, provide robust shielding from aggregations. The ginseng-generated AuNps exhibit remarkable in vitro stability in various buffers including: cysteine, histidine, saline, sodium chloride and a host of pH ranges. Furthermore, the phytochemical coatings on the G-AuNps rendered them nontoxic as demonstrated through detailed cytotoxicity assays using WST-8 counting kit, performed on normal cervical cells lines. The present study opens up a new possibility of conveniently synthesizing AuNps using natural products which will be useful in optoelectronic and biomedical applications.