Background: Dihydromyricetin (DMY), a natural flavonoid, has reportedly antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer and other properties. In the present study, DMY was used as a reducing agent and stabilizer to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and the optimal conditions for its synthesis were studied. The DMY-AgNPs were investigated for their DPPH scavenging properties and their potential against human pathogenic and food-borne bacteria viz. Escherichia coli  (E. coli), and Salmonella . In addition, DMY-AgNPs also showed excellent inhibitory effects on cancer Hela, HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.
Methods: The dihydromyricetin-mediated AgNPs (DMY-AgNPs) were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis spectra), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Antioxidant activity of DMY-AgNPs was determined by 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging. The antibacterial activity was determined by 96-well plate (AGAR) gradient dilution, while anticancer potential was determined by MTT assay.
Results: The results showed that the dispersion of AgNPs had the maximum UV–visible absorption at about 410 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles were almost spherical. FTIR was used to identify functional groups that may lead to the transformation of metal ions into nanoparticles. The results showed that the prepared AgNPs were coated with biological molecules in the extraction solution. The biosynthesized DMY-AgNPs exhibited good antioxidant properties, at various concentrations (0.01– 0.1mg/mL), the free radical scavenging rate was about 56– 92%. Furthermore, DMY-AgNPs possessed good antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli  (E. coli), and Salmonella  at room temperature. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were 10^{− 6} g/L, and 10^{− 4} g/L, respectively. The bioactivity of DMY-mediated AgNPs was studied using MTT assay against Hela, HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines, and all showed good inhibitory effects.
Conclusion: The present study provides a green approach for the synthesis of DMY-AgNPs which exhibited stronger antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer properties compared to the dihydromyricetin. DMY-AgNPs can serve as an economical, efficient, and effective antimicrobial material for its applications in food and pharmaceutical fields.
Keywords: natural flavonoid, DMY-AgNO₃-NPs, green approach, DPPH, Escherichia coli , Salmonella , Hela, HepG2, MDA-MB-231