Synthesis of chemically cross-linked hydrogel films based on basil seed (Ocimum basilicum L.) mucilage for wound dressing drug delivery applications

The present study aims toward the preparation of pH-sensitive hydrogel films based on basil seed mucilage (OBM) biopolymer as a novel drug delivery system for wound dressing. Various contents of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), glutaraldehyde (GA) as cross-linker, and glycerol as a plasticizer were incorporated to have an optimal combination of softness and resilience. OBM hydrogel films characterized by FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), morphological analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and their physical properties were discussed on the reportage of the results of several tests: rheology, mechanical tests (stress at maximum load and Young's modulus), O2 permeability and water vapor permeability, gel fraction, water retention capacity and swelling degree measurements. The best results for this work were Mu-Gly2, which has the acceptable swelling degree and gel fraction leading to functional water retention capacity, as well as the selected formulations, which were non-toxic and biocompatible according to the result of cytotoxicity test. The optimized formulations of films were used for loading of Tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) as a model drug, and the release studies showed better results at pH = 8.5 and pH = 7.4 rather than acidic pH.