Accelerated wound healing of physically cross linked gellan gum-virgin coconut oil hydrogel containing manuka honey

Abstract

This study examined the effect of honey in gellan gum (GG) hydrogel containing virgin coconut oil (VCO). Their mechanical, physical, thermal properties and in-vivo healing potential on dermal wounds were investigated. The compression performance results show that the inclusion of honey into gellan gum incorporated VCO (GGVCOH) hydrogel improved the compressive stress of the materials by 3-fold and workable to be applied on the different contours of human body. Swelling ratio of GVCO hydrogels increased upon addition of honey, and water transmission rates (WVTRs) values of all hydrogels were in the range of 112-132gm2d1, in which comparable to WVTRs values of commercial wound dressings. Thermal behavior shows the inclusion of honey in GVCO hydrogels improved the thermal stability particularly at high concentration. In-vivo healing on dermal wounds exhibits that the inclusion of honey accelerated the wound closure and shows complete neo-epidermal of the wounds. The GVCOH hydrogel has shown promising results to treats acute wound treatments.