Green synthesis of selenium nanoparticles capped by Tithonia diversifolia pectin for anti‐inflammation activity

Abstract

This work reports a green method to synthesize pectin‐capped selenium nanoparticles (PT‐SeNPs) using ascorbic acid as a reductant under mild conditions. Pectin was extracted from Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsley) A. Gray plant. Pectin played the role of a capping agent preventing the agglomeration of selenium nanoparticles. The synthesized PT‐SeNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectrophotometry, EDX spectroscopy, TEM, DLS, FT‐IR, XRD, and TG‐DTA. The TEM and DLS techniques revealed monodispersed spherical selenium nanoparticles with sizes range of 100–200 nm. The amorphous PT‐SeNPs showed a phase transformation of nanostructure at 132 °C and a sublimation at 486 °C. The anti‐inflammatory of the obtained PT‐SeNPs was investigated in ethyl phenylpropiolate (EPP)‐induced rats. Rats treated with PT‐SeNPs exhibited ear edema inhibitions of 34.8%, 43.3%, and 46.7%, respectively at 30, 60 and 90 min after EPP injection.