In this report, a simple and cost-effective methodology has been developed to obtain gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)
using Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) oil in the presence of sunlight. The spectroscopic and morphological properties
of AuNPswere characterized by using UV–vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), particle
size analyzer, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). UV–vis and TEM reveal that the nanostructure of the gold
particles has surfaced plasmon resonance at 515–520 nm and is almost spherical in shape with an average size
of 5–15 nm. XRD studies confirmed the face cubic center (fcc) unit cell structure of AuNPs. The as-synthesized
AuNPs showed remarkable photocatalytic decomposition of the methylene blue (N75%) without using any reducing
agent andweak antioxidant activity (21–16%) against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl at the different sunlight
exposure times. The experimental approach is promising and suggested that the sunlight is a good source of
energy for enhancement of AuNP synthesis via Sacha inchi oil and its photocatalytic activity.