Wound dressing properties of cationized cotton fabric treated with carrageenan/cyclodextrin hydrogel loaded with honey bee propolis extract.

The current study was set to prepare a delivery system based on a mixture of biodegradable polymeric hydrogel (i.e., carrageenan (κ-CAR) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)) for encapsulating honey bee propolis extract (HBP). The crosslinking agent; glyoxal was incorporated to increase the insolubility of the HBP-loaded hydrogel to fit the cotton fabric treatments. The synthesized hydrogels were fully characterized to examine their surface and internal morphology and to visualize the chemical interaction between κ-CAR and β-CD via SEM and FTIR techniques. The SEM pictures ensured the existent of many pores within the formed hydrogel. The swelling properties of κ-CAR/β-CD/HBP were also studied in terms of glyoxal and HBP concentrations which displayed water holding with higher mechanical properties. Furthermore, in vitro release assessment of HBP from κ-CAR/β-CD hydrogel was also studied at pH 7.6. Therefore, κ-CAR/β-CD/HBP hydrogel was successfully used as fining compound for the cationized cotton fabrics. The data obtained emphasized that the surface of cationized cotton fabrics was deposited and penetrated with a film of κ-CAR/β-CD/HBP. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the treated cationized fabric was evaluated against many species of bacteria and fungus producing highly inhibition zone at lower concentrations of HBP. Accordingly, the cationized cotton fabric treated with κ-CAR/β-CD/HBP has a high potential in the wound healing fabrics.