Applications of plant-based nanoparticles in nanomedicine: A review

Plants encompass numerous phytochemicals like flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and other metabolites that have a major impact on the generation of nanomaterials with chief implications in current therapeutic methods for a variety of diseases including cancers; herbal extracts serve as potential means for the generation of nanomaterial via safer pathways. Various secondary metabolites embodying the extracts function as stabilizing and or reducing agents to form nanoparticles (NPs) and such plant extract-derived NPs have diverse applications in assorted fields particularly in nanomedicine. Numerous groups have recently generated, green-synthesized metal nanoparticles deploying various bio-resources such as plant, bacteria, fungus, etc. Herein, prominent recent advancements for various biomedical applications of such nanomaterials, namely for cancer and other treatment of diseases are reviewed with discussions on in vivo and in vitro toxicity experiments pertaining to the potential intriguing pharmaceutical appliances.