INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS & DRUG ANALYSIS VOL.6 ISSUE 2, 2018; 139 – 142 ; http://ijpda.com ; ISSN: 2348-8948 139 MEDFOOD’18 [1 st February 2018] National Conference on Phytochemicals in Medicinal Plants and Food Department of Biochemistry, Bharathidasan University Constituent College for Women, Orathanadu - 614 625, Tamil Nadu, India Research Article Penicillum -mediated Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles and its Antibacterial activity Arulmozhi, R* Kannahi, M PG and Research Department of Microbiology, Sengamala Thayaar Educational Trust Women’s College, Sundarakkottai, Mannargudi- 614 001, Thiruvarur (Dt), Tamil Na- du, India. Date Received: 23 rd January 2018; Date accepted: 29 th January 2018; Date Published: 17 th February 2018 Abstract The aim of the study was to synthesize silver na- noparticles by using filamentous fungus Penicil- lium sp. The fungal culture was isolated from the soil samples collected from agriculture fields in Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The puri- fied fungal isolates were inoculated in minimal medium and incubated at room temperature for three days. For the synthesis of silver nanopar- ticles, 50 ml of cell filtrate was mixed with equal volume of 1mM silver nitrate [AgNO3 (1 mM)] and agitated at room temperature in dark. The synthe- sis of silver nanoparticles was investigated by UV- Vis spectroscopy, Atomic force microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic analysis. Results indicate the synthesis of silver nanopar- ticles in the reaction mixture. Mechanism of silver nanoparticles synthesis was determined by nitrate reduction test. Keywords: Penicillium sp, silver nanoparticles, sil- ver nitrate [AgNO3 (1 mM)] and UV-Vis spectros- copy INTRODUCTION Nanotechnology is emerging field of science which involves synthesis and development of various nanomaterials. At present, different types of metal nanomaterials are being produced using copper, zinc, titanium, magnesium, gold, alginate and sil- ver. These nanomaterials are used in various fields such as optical devices 1 , catalytic 2 , bactericidal 3 , electronic 4 , sensor technology, biological labelling and treatment of some cancers 5 . In last decade, application of nano material has been extensively increased and the high demands leads to the bulk production of the nanomaterial. Classically the nanoparticles are produced by physical and chem- ical methods 6 , as these methods are costly, toxic and non eco friendly, scientists are looking forward to synthesize low cost, non toxic and eco friendly nanoparticles. Most recently, biosynthesis of nano- particles using bacteria 7 , fungus and plants 8 have emerged as a simple and viable alternative to more complex physical and chemical synthetic proce- dures to obtain nanomaterials. Silver nanoparticles are undoubtedly the most widely used nanomaterials among all. Silver nano- particles are used in antimicrobial agents, textile industries, water treatment, sun screen lotions etc. Previous studies reported the biosynthesis of silver