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Non-toxic nanoparticles from phytochemicals: preparation and biomedical application

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Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) have various applications in biomedicine and drug delivery carriers and also are widely used in cosmetics. However, the preparation of biocompatible and non-toxic nanomaterials is a very important issue as most of the starting materials are synthesized using toxic chemical reagents. This review introduces the preparation of biocompatible NPs in a range of their concentrations using phytochemicals for biomedicine and biotechnology. Phytochemicals are natural products that are extracted from plants, vegetables, and fruits. Phytochemicals serve as reducing agents and stabilizers during NP synthesis to convert metal ions to metal NPs in water. Possible applications of such nanomaterials in biomedical sciences are also described in this review.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Korea Healthcare Technology Research & Development Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (A110191-1202-0000200) and was also supported by the Financial Supporting Project of Long-term Overseas Dispatch of PNU’s Tenure-track Faculty.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nano-Integrated Cogno-mechatronics Engineering (NICE), Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Korea

    Jaewook Lee & Jaebeom Lee

  2. Research Institute of Green Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan

    Jaewook Lee & Enoch Y. Park

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  1. Jaewook Lee
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  2. Enoch Y. Park
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  3. Jaebeom Lee
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Correspondence to Jaebeom Lee.

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Lee, J., Park, E.Y. & Lee, J. Non-toxic nanoparticles from phytochemicals: preparation and biomedical application. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 983–989 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-013-1091-3

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