In this work, green synthesis, characterization and catalysis applications of antioxidant palladium nanoparticles has been studied in detail. PdNPs was successfully synthesized by using carob, cinnamon, turmeric and ginger antioxidant extracts with green method. Nanoparticles synthesized in this way was characterized by FTIR, UV–Vis, SEM–EDX, TEM and XRD. The UV–Vis spectra of the PdNPs revealed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance peak at 430–435 nm. The synthesized PdNPs reacted as a catalyst to the reduction of dyes (rhodamine B, methyl orange and methylene blue) with NaBH4 (sodium borohydride). Green synthesized antioxidant PdNPs effectively degraded the dyes approximately in 15–22 min and kinetic parameters has been calculated. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]