Physicochemical, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Characteristics of Corn Starch Film Containing Propolis for Wound Dressing

Abstract

Modern dressings increase the rate of wound healing rather than just covering them. Dressing can protect the injured skin and keep it appropriately moist to speed up the healing process. In this study, the ethanolic extract of propolis loaded with corn starch was successfully prepared using solvent casting. Characterizations of the samples performed in respect to their mechanical properties were examined by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, and attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, as well as antimicrobial capacities. The MTT assay using fibroblast cells showed the cell viability of corn starch in the ethanolic extract of propolis wound dressing. The results showed that by increasing the amount of ethanolic propolis extract from 0.25 to 1, the tensile strength and the Young's modulus of the samples were decreased, the elongation at the break increased about 15 as compared to the control films, and the contact angle properties were detected by a slightly hydrophobic character of the films in the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus even at low ethanolic extract of propolis concentrations (1), mainly due to its phenolic compounds. Therefore, ethanolic extract of propolis loaded with corn starch film will be a potential candidate for wound dressing and skin tissue engineering.