The Effect of the Adding of Banana Sap on the Properties of PEGDMA/PEO Hydrogel Film Sap for Wound-Healing Acceleration

Hydrogels have been developed for many years without any addition of traditional drugs. To speed up the wound-healing progress, banana sap was loaded into the hydrogel. The preparation of banana sap-loaded polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate/polyethylene oxide (PEGDMA/PEO) hydrogel film was done by adding the banana sap into PEGDMA/PEO solution before crosslinking using gamma rays. The composition of banana sap in hydrogel varies from 0 to 15% (by volume). The influence of banana sap on gel fraction, swelling ratio, water vapour transmission rate and mechanical properties of the hydrogel were measured after crosslinking. The surface morphology was investigated with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The increase in speed of wound-healing rate was tested by in vivo analysis. The research results showed that gel fraction, swelling ratio, water vapour transmission rate and elongation at break of banana-loaded PEGDMA/PEO hydrogel increase at various concentrations. On the contrary, tensile strength of hydrogel decreases with the increase of banana sap content. In vivo analysis indicates that hydrogel increases the speed of the wound healing. The results show that banana sap-loaded PEGDMA/PEO hydrogel is potential for wound-dressing applications.