Phytochemical screening of an essential oil-loaded PVA/GA hydrogel membrane for potential wound healing application

The global concern over microbial resistance, particularly the emergence of antibiotic resistance, underscores the imperative for novel antimicrobial strategies. Plant essential oils and biopolymers offer promising alternatives to conventional drugs for bacterial and fungal infections. The objective was to achieve optimized antibacterial activity and to identify the phytochemical component of the essential oil. The essential oils passed the screening confirmed by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The synthesized hydrogel was prepared by freeze drying polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/gum Arabic (GA) with the addition of a crosslinker. The Essential oils compounds' antimicrobial effectiveness was confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis upon their integration into the hydrogel membrane. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was performed to investigate the morphological structure of the hydrogel membranes, and the results indicated that the material was successfully loaded. The antibacterial efficacy was evaluated against two gram positive and gram-negative bacteria strain. The best results of the antibacterial study for the synthesized hydrogels were obtained with the addition of 0.2 mL of Schinus Molle Essential Oil (SMEO) to the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/gum Arabic (GA) hydrogels of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), which were 10.2±0.2 mm and 9.3 ± 0.3 mm, respectively, while those of 0.4 mL were 8.2 ±0.2 mm and 8.2±0.3mm, respectively. Additionally, with 0.2 mL of Schinus Molle Essential Oil (SMEOs), the moisture retention capacity (MRC) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were 93.12 % and 32.73 g/m²h, respectively. The results of this research study suggested that the phytochemical component of the essential oil and the synthesized hydrogel membrane exhibit greater antibacterial activity and physical features, making it suitable for potential use in wound healing and various biomedical applications.