ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF RABBIT COLLAGEN GLUE-CHITOSAN BIOMATERIAL LOADED WITH CYMBOPOGON FLEXUOSUS ESSENTIAL OIL

One approach to develop innovative antimicrobial wound dressing materials is to use natural polymers loaded with antimicrobial agents. The valorisation of animal proteins as biomaterials with antimicrobial properties is a new concern for development of wound healing. Plant esssential oils (EO) also indicate a potential approach for new wound dressing materials able to replace the synthetic antymicrobial agents. In this paper, plant-polymeric film was prepared by casting film-forming emulsion based on lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) essential oil/Tween 80 dispersed into rabbit collagen glue hydrolysate– chitosan biomaterial. The effect of biomaterial film composition on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 standard bacteria, and Candida albicans ATCC 10231 pathogenic fungus was studied according to European Pharmacopoeia 10/2020 as compared with biomaterial film without essential oil. The in vitro antibacterial tests against three bacterial strains showed that the rabbit collagen glue hydrolysate–chitosan biomaterial inhibited all the three microorganisms. The rabbit collagen hydrolysate glue-chitosan film loaded with lemongrass essential oil exhibits antimicrobial activity towards tested microorganisms but lower as compared with control. The explanation could be due to the short time of investigation, or maybe some active compounds constituents of EO, which favour the cellular proliferation. Preparation of rabbit collagen glue hydrolysate-chitosan biomaterial loaded with lemongrass essential oil is an environmentally friendly solution, which may contribute to the development of wound healing materials as an alternative to topical antimicrobial agents.