The present study is focused on employing Camellia japonica leaf extract as inductive and stabilizing agent to synthesis CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). The chemicals, such as (Cu(NO3)(2)center dot 3H(2)O) and (Zn(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) were converted into copper and zinc ions, respectively because of the different natural products present in the C. japonica leaf extract. The UV-vis spectra of CuO and ZnO NPs showed absorption peak at 290 nm and 301 nm, respectively. The XRD result revealed crystalline nature of the metal oxide NPs and the TEM images indicated that average sizes of the synthesized CuO and ZnO NPs were similar to 17 nm and similar to 20 nm, respectively. The FTIR spectra of C. japonica leaf extract showed the presence of organic groups, such as,-OH,-C-N, and N-H, which would be responsible for forming CuO and ZnO NPs. The synthesized CuO and ZnO NPs were tested for the optical sensing of metal ions, viz. Li+ and Ag+ that illustrated excellent outcome and hence this method offers a novel lane for the synthesis of metal oxide NPs, which can be used as optical sensor for the detection of metal ions. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.