Preparation of Gelatin-Chitosan-Honey-Based Hydrogel for Potential Active Material of Wound Care Dressing Application

Abstract

Hydrogel composed of gelatin, chitosan, and honey can be one of the right candidates for wound dressing application which provides both an antibacterial and a proper wound drainage management property to promote faster healing. Herein, preparation of hydrogel has been conducted by the physical blending of the solution of gelatin, chitosan, and honey at 40°C. Then, the mixture was cast to form hydrogel films by each 2-4 mm thickness and followed by drying at 37o C for 24 hours. The resulted hydrogels were characterized to confirm its potential as wound care dressing by measuring gel fraction, swelling index, and antibacterial activity. The gel fraction of the hydrogel composed of 10 and 20 grams of gelatin (each with 0.5 grams of chitosan and 20 grams of honey) was respectively 68.86 % and 65.68%. The hydrogel, composed of 20 g of gelatin and 7.5 g of chitosan, has shown the highest water retention capacity (swelling index) by 400 %. However, the presence of honey has slightly lowered both the gel fraction and swelling index of the resulted hydrogel. The antibacterial property of the resulting hydrogel in this work corresponds to the chitosan instead of honey and gelatin.