Synthesis of biocompatible metal nanoparticles has been an area of significant interest because of their wide range of applications. In the present study, we have successfully synthesized water soluble silver nanoparticles assisted by small amino acid glycine. The method is primarily based on reduction of AgNO3 with NaBH4 in aqueous solution under atmospheric air in the presence of glycine. UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques used for characterization of resulting silver nanoparticles demonstrated that, glycine is an effective capping agent to stabilize silver nanoparticles. Surface selective interaction of glycine on (111) face of silver nanoparticles has been investigated. The optical property and crystalline behavior of silver nanoparticles were found to be sensitive to concentration of glycine. X-ray diffraction studies ascertained the phase specific interaction of glycine on silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles synthesized were of diameter 60 nm. We thus demonstrated an efficient synthetic method for synthesis of water soluble silver nanoparticles capped by amino acid under mild reaction conditions with excellent reproducibility. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.