Eco-friendly dressing material made for wounds using banana fibers offers a sustainable solution to wound care. India, the world's largest banana growing country, has an abundance of banana pseudo stems, which are thrown away after harvesting.
In a pioneering effort, scientists at the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, have used banana pseudostem, often considered as agricultural waste, into Transformed into eco-friendly wound dressing materials for the treatment of wounds. ,
Led by Professor Devashish Chaudhary and Professor (Retd) Rajalakshmi Devi, the research team including Mridusmita Barman, a research scholar in the IASST-Deakin University Joint PhD Programme, used banana extract to create a multifunctional patch with excellent mechanical strength and antioxidant properties. The fibers are efficiently combined with biopolymers such as chitosan and guar gum.
Taking it a step further, researchers used Vitex negundo L. loaded this patch with plant extracts, demonstrating the capabilities of plant extract-blended banana fiber-biopolymer composite patches as in vitro drug release and antibacterial agents Does. All the ingredients used in making this innovative dressing material are natural and locally available making the manufacturing process simple, cost effective and non-toxic.
The wound dressing material offers a sustainable solution for wound care and suggests additional uses for the abundant banana plant, which can benefit farmers and also reduce environmental impact.
Professor Chaudhary says, “This test opens the door to a new era in wound healing and offers a low-cost, reliable and environmentally friendly option that has significant potential in biomedical research.” This banana fiber-biopolymer composite dressing can revolutionize wound care with its wide applications and positive impact on health and the environment. Elsevier recently published this work in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.
This groundbreaking research has recently been published by Elsevier in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, further highlighting its importance in the scientific community.
Publication link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129653