Vegetos
(An International Journal of Plant Research & Biotechnology)
Preparation of a novel sodium alginate-glycerol herbal Kaempferia galanga and Eranthemum indicum coated dressings for wound care
*Article not assigned to an issue yet
Nonglang Flavius Phrangsngi, Verma Chetna, Gupta Bhuvanesh, Wankhar Wankupar, Bhan Surya
Research Articles | Published: 03 September, 2025
First Page: 0
Last Page: 0
Views: 4
Keywords: Hydrogel, Alginate, Glycerol, Wound healing, n Kaempferia galangan , n Eranthemum indicumn
Abstract
The present study investigated the preparation of sodium alginate-hydrogel herbal-coated dressings designed to maintain a moist environment and promote rapid wound healing. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Kaempferia galanga (K. galanga; KA and KE) and Eranthemum indicum (E. indicum; EA and EE) were incorporated into hydrogel dressings by dip-coating them in a sodium alginate–glycerol (SA-Gly) blend containing 40% herbal extract. The prepared dressings included pristine SA-Gly (PA) hydrogel, SA-Gly-herbal K. galanga extract-loaded hydrogel (Aqueous: SA-Gly-KA; Ethanol: SA-Gly-KE), and SA-Gly-herbal E. indicum extract-loaded hydrogel (Aqueous: SA-Gly-EA; Ethanol: SA-Gly-EE). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed the uniform coating of the herbal extracts on the dressings. Excision wound healing studies in BALB/c mice shows a gradual and improved percentage wound contraction (WC%) of 67.57% (p < 0.001), 74.13% (p < 0.001), 65.90% (p < 0.001), and 70.20% (p < 0.001) on treatment with SA-Gly-KA, SA-Gly-KE, SA-Gly-EA and SA-Gly-EE, respectively, better than that of pristine SA-Gly group 52.25% (p < 0.001). Histopathology studies revealed proper regeneration and restoration of the skin architecture of wounded mice treated with the polymeric hydrogel herbal-coated dressings. Furthermore, the polymeric hydrogel herbal-coated dressings exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against E. coli with percentage antimicrobial efficiency (R%) of 80.83% (p < 0.001), 74.06% (p < 0.001), 93.23% (p < 0.001), and 96.24% (p < 0.001) on treatment with SA-Gly-KA, SA-Gly-KE, SA-Gly-EA, and SA-Gly-EE formulations, respectively, as compared to the pristine SA-Gly blend. Thus, in our study, novel polymeric hydrogel herbal-coated dressings that show potent antimicrobial and wound healing activities were successfully prepared. However, further in-vitro and in-vivo investigations will be conducted to fully validate their therapeutic potential and safety, scaling up their productivity, and applicability in diverse clinical settings.
Graphical abstract
References
Bagher Z, Ehterami A, Safdel MH, Khastar H, Semiari H, Asefnejad A, Davachi SM, Mirzaii M, Salehi M (2020) Wound healing with alginate/chitosan hydrogel containing hesperidin in rat model. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol 55:101379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2019.101379
Bijmoer R, Scherrenberg M, Creuwels J (2020) Naturalis biodiversity center (NL)—Botany. Occurrence dataset. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2514607446
Boateng JS, Matthews KH, Stevens HNE, Eccleston GM (2008) Wound healing dressings and drug delivery systems: a review. J Pharm Sci 97(8):2892–2923. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.21210
Cañedo-Dorantes L, Cañedo-Ayala M (2019) Skin acute wound healing: a comprehensive review. Int J Inflam 2019:3706315. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3706315
Cavallo I, Sivori F, Mastrofrancesco A, Abril E, Pontone M, Di Domenico EG, Pimpinelli F (2024) Bacterial biofilm in chronic wounds and possible therapeutic approaches. Biology (Basel) 13(2):109. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13020109
Chandra P, Shahjad, Porwal M, Rastogi V, Mittal P, Verma A, Sachan N, Prabahar EA, Gautam MK (2025) Progresses in wound healing: integrating nutrition, physical therapy, traditional and alternative medicine, and novel technologies. Curr Diabetes Rev. https://doi.org/10.2174/0115733998350164250228174809
Dewar CL, Wolowyk MW, Hill JR (1976) A simple method for processing erythrocytes for scanning electron microscopy. Am J Clin Pathol 66(4):760–765. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcp/66.4.760
Falcone M, De Angelis B, Pea F, Scalise A, Stefani S, Tasinato R, Zanetti O, Dalla Paola L (2021) Challenges in the management of chronic wound infections. J Glob Antimicrob Resist 26:140–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgar.2021.05.010
Getie M, Gebre-Mariam T, Rietz R, Neubert RHH (2002) Evaluation of the release profiles of flavonoids from topical formulations of the crude extract of the leaves of Dodonea viscosa (Sapindaceae). Pharmazie 57(5):320–322
Goyal G, Kumar V, Tyagi H, Varshney P, Mishra SK, Chauhan S (2024) Herbal remedies in wound healing: a comprehensive review of plants and non-clinical applications. Orient J Chem 40(2):569–579
Hasatsri S, Pitiratanaworanat A, Swangwit S, Boochakul C, Tragoonsupachai C (2018) Comparison of the morphological and physical properties of different absorbent wound dressings. Dermatol Res Pract 2018:9367034. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9367034
Jiang L, Loo SCJ (2021) Intelligent nanoparticle-based dressings for bacterial wound infections. ACS Appl Bio Mater 4(5):3849–3862. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.0c01168
Jones V, Grey JE, Harding KG (2006) Wound dressings. BMJ 332(7544):777–780. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.332.7544.777
Kamoun EA, Kenawy E-RS, Chen X (2017) A review on polymeric hydrogel membranes for wound dressing applications: PVA-based hydrogel dressings. J Adv Res 8(3):217–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2017.01.005
Kiernan J (2015) Histological and histochemical Methods - Theory and practice. Scion Publishing Ltd, Banbury, UK, p 571
Liu H, Chen Y, Hu Y, Zhang W, Zhang H, Su T, Wang J, Yin Z, Zhao X, Zhou X, Li L, Zou Y, Fu Y, Zhang Y, Song X (2024) Protective effects of an alcoholic extract of Kaempferia Galanga L. rhizome on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 325:117845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2024.117845
Ma Y, Xin L, Tan H, Fan M, Li J, Jia Y, Ling Z, Chen Y, Hu X (2017) Chitosan membrane dressings toughened by glycerol to load antibacterial drugs for wound healing. Mater Sci Eng C 81:522–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.08.052
Maver T, Maver U, Stana Kleinschek K, Smrke DM, Kreft S (2015) A review of herbal medicines in wound healing. Int J Dermatol 54(7):740–751. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.12766
Mirza S, Zangabad P, Moosavi Basri SM, Sahandi Zangabad K, Ghamarypour A, Aref AR, Karimi M, Hamblin MR (2018) Nanomedicine and advanced technologies for burns: preventing infection and facilitating wound healing. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 123:33–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2017.08.001
Najafiasl M, Osfouri S, Azin R, Zaeri S (2020) Alginate-based electrospun core/shell nanofibers containing dexpanthenol: a good candidate for wound dressing. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol 57:101708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2020.101708
Negut I, Grumezescu V, Grumezescu AM (2018) Treatment strategies for infected wounds. Molecules 23(9):2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23092392
Nonglang FP, Khale A, Bhan S (2022a) Phytochemical characterization of the ethanolic extract of Kaempferia Galanga rhizome for anti-oxidant activities by HPTLC and GCMS. Futur J Pharm Sci 8(1):9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43094-021-00394-1
Nonglang FP, Khale A, Wankhar W, Bhan S (2022b) Pharmacognostic evaluation of eranthemum indicum extracts for its in-vitro antioxidant activity, acute toxicology, and investigation of potent bioactive phytocompounds using HPTLC and GCMS. Beni-Suef Univ J Basic Appl Sci 11(1):129. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43088-022-00311-2
Nonglang FP, Snaitang R, Roy D, Bhan S (2025) Freeze-dried herbal Kaempferia Galanga supplementation effectively modulates hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in diabetic balb/c mice. Futur J Pharm Sci 11(1):22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43094-025-00772-z
Pathak D, Mazumder A (2024) A critical overview of challenging roles of medicinal plants in improvement of wound healing technology. DARU J Pharm Sci 32(1):379–419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40199-023-00502-x
Qu Z, Wang Y, Niu1 Q, Wen W, Ding G, Liu W (2023) Alginate dressings in wound care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. J Clin Exp Dermatol Res 14(4):1–9. https://doi.org/10.35841/2155-9554.23.14.640
Shanbhag TV, Chandrakala S, Sachidananda A, Kurady BL, Smita S, Ganesh S (2006) Wound healing activity of alcoholic extract of Kaempferia Galanga in Wistar rats. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 50(4):384–390
Sharma A, Khanna S, Kaur G, Singh I (2021) Medicinal plants and their components for wound healing applications. Futur J Pharm Sci 7(1):53. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43094-021-00202-w
Sharma A, Verma C, Mukhopadhyay S, Gupta A, Gupta B (2022a) Development of sodium alginate/glycerol/tannic acid coated cotton as antimicrobial system. Int J Biol Macromol 216:303–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.06.168
Sharma A, Verma C, Mukhopadhyay S, Gupta A, Gupta B (2022b) Silver nanoparticle-embedded nanogels for infection-resistant surfaces. ACS Appl Nano Mater 5(6):8546–8556. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c01959
Sorg H, Tilkorn DJ, Hager S, Hauser J, Mirastschijski U (2017) Skin wound healing: an update on the current knowledge and concepts. Eur Surg Res 58(1–2):81–94. https://doi.org/10.1159/000454919
Sudsai T, Tungcharoen P, Tewtrakul S (2022) Wound healing properties of pharmaceutical gel containing isopimarane diterpene isolated from Kaempferia Galanga L. J Ethnopharmacol 289:115052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2022.115052
Swann G (2010) The skin is the body’s largest organ. J Vis Commun Med 33(4):148–149. https://doi.org/10.3109/17453054.2010.525439
Varaprasad K, Jayaramudu T, Kanikireddy V, Toro C, Sadiku ER (2020) Alginate-based composite materials for wound dressing application:a mini review. Carbohydr Polym 236:116025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116025
Vitale S, Colanero S, Placidi M, Di Emidio G, Tatone C, Amicarelli F, D’Alessandro AM (2022) Phytochemistry and biological activity of medicinal plants in wound healing: an overview of current research. Molecules 27(11):3566. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27113566
Wahyuni IS, Sufiawati I, Nittayananta W, Levita J (2022) Anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing effect of Kaempferia Galanga L. Rhizome on the chemical-induced oral mucosal ulcer in Wistar rats. J Inflamm Res 15:2281–2294. https://doi.org/10.2147/JIR.S359042
World Health Organization (2019) WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine 2019. World Health Organization, Geneva
Cacciatore I, Marinelli L (2024) Microbial Infections and Wound Healing: Medicinal-Chemistry and Technological Based Approaches. Pharmaceutics 16(2):168. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16020168
Purohit SK, Solanki R, Soni R, Mathur V (2013) Evaluation of Wound Healing Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Azadirachta indica Leaves in Male Albino Rats. AJPTech 3(2):73–75
Author Information
Department of Biochemistry, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India