Abstract / Summary
Abstract Corallocarpus glomeruliflorus (Cucurbitaceae), an indigenous Yemeni plant, represents a previously unexplored biogenic resource for metal oxide nanoparticle synthesis. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to employ C. glomeruliflorus for the phyto-mediated synthesis of a metal oxide nanomaterial. Here, copper oxide nanoparticles (CG-CuO NPs) were synthesized using an aqueous extract of the aerial parts of C. glomeruliflorus and evaluated for their physicochemical and antibacterial properties. Phytochemical screening revealed phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, carbohydrates, tannins, and coumarins. Nanoparticle formation and properties were investigated using UV–Vis, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX analyses. The CG-CuO NPs exhibited an absorption maximum at approximately 290 nm and an optical bandgap of 3.76 eV. XRD confirmed a predominantly phase-pure monoclinic CuO structure (C2/c) with an average crystallite size of 40.97 nm. SEM revealed predominantly irregular, quasi-spherical nanoparticles (20–50 nm) with moderate agglomeration, while EDX confirmed Cu and O as the principal elemental constituents. The nanoparticles exhibited antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi , Staphylococcus aureus , and Escherichia coli , with maximum inhibition zones of 20, 20, and 18 mm, respectively. These findings establish C. glomeruliflorus as a novel biogenic platform for CuO nanoparticle synthesis and support its potential for developing environmentally sustainable nanomaterials with antibacterial properties.