Abstract
In the present study, a simple and a selective colorimetric method for pheromone detection to diagnose estrus in cattle was established based on the l-tyrosine functionalized silver nanoparticles (l-TyrAgNPs). The synthesized silver nanoparticles was spotted by color change (colorless to pale yellow) due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR). In order to confirm, Ag nanoparticles was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV– Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that the pre-colored Ag colloids could be turned from yellow to reddish-brown by the addition of the sex pheromones such as acetic acid or propionic acid, which may have potential application in the colorimetric sensor. The augmented optical nature of nanoparticles furnishes a suitable base to develop a colorimetric sensor for bovine sex pheromones detection. In addition, the computational analyses are critically required to validate residual interactions of bovine odorant-binding protein (OBP) with pheromones. The method was successfully applied to the detection of acetic acid or propionic acid using a biological molecule l-Tyr AgNPs. These results clearly indicate that the biosynthesis of l-Tyr AgNPs can be used as a promising colorimetric sensor for accurate time of estrus prediction in bovine.
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•l-tyrosine-capped silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by UV–Vis., FTIR, XRD, FESEM and DLS analysis.•The computational study justified the biomolecule l-tyrosine as a key residue for pheromone shuttle.•Optical nature of nanoparticles confers the best platform to develop a sensor for bovine sex pheromones detection.•Development of new colorimetric sensor based l-tyrosine capped AgNPs in detecting acetic acid and propionic acid.•It is proposed to detect the pheromone compounds from the natural sources of bovine body fluids.