Evaluation of in vitro anti-fungal properties of allicin loaded ion cross-linked poly (AA-co-AAm)/PVA/Cloisite 15A Nanocomposite hydrogel films as wound dressing materials

Abstract

Anti-fungal hydrogel wound dressings were prepared using the ion cross-linked poly (AA-co-AAm)/PVA/Cloisite 15A nanocomposite hydrogels which were loaded by allicin. The allicin is the main anti-fungal and anti-biotic material of the garlic and it was extracted from fresh garlic pulps following a simple method. The extracted allicin was then loaded on synthesized hydrogel films by immersing the hydrogel films in allicin solutions with different concentrations. To investigate the inhibiting effect of the allicin on fungal specie, 5 different kinds of fungi were chosen and were cultured following the standard methods. The obtained results showed that the ion cross-linked nanocomposite hydrogel film with 5.33 mg/ml of allicin content has the best efficiency on inhibition of the fungus specie. Also it is confirmed that, in an optimum concentration of loaded allicin, the release behavior of the hydrogel is the best which means a low initial burst release and efficient time of releasing. It should be noted that, the chemical safety of the synthesized hydrogel films was evaluated using a UV-Vis method and the obtained results confirmed that there is no release of monomers from the hydrogel samples.