Development of gelatin hydrogel pads incorporated with Eupatorium adenophorum essential oil as antibacterial wound dressing

Abstract

In this study, gelatin hydrogel was obtained by mixing a 10 wt% gelatin solution with essential oil extracted from Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng plant (Crofton weed). This study aimed to fabricate gelatin hydrogel pads containing 5–30% v/v Eupatorium adenophorum emulsion. Incorporation of emulsion into hydrogels caused increase in gel fraction because of a change in the cross-link capacity and decrease in Young’s modulus, levels of stress at maximum load, and fraction of strain at yield, dose-dependently. Furthermore, the swelling and weight loss properties of the tested hydrogels increased with an increase in the emulsion content. E. adenophorum emulsion-loaded gelatin hydrogel pads for patients with open wounds as a result of injury or surgical procedure were evaluated by analyzing the release profiles and the antimicrobial activity of the hydrogels. The emulsion-loaded hydrogel pads presented good antibacterial activity against the test pathogens. The composition of E. adenophorum essential oil was analyzed using GC–MS to further determine the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil. All the emulsion-loaded gelatin hydrogels inhibited the growth of the tested pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus cereus, and Escherichia coli. Moreover, the antibacterial activity increased with the increase in initial amount of emulsion in the hydrogels. Thus, hydrogels show potential for use as antibacterial wound dressings.