Beta-glucan and protein mixtures extracted from barley and filled with ZnO to develop bioactive wound dressings

Introduction Barley is one of the most produced and cultivated cereal crops worldwide. Its grains are mainly composed by proteins and polysaccharides, in particular ?-glucans that are linear polysaccharides showing hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic activity and having interesting antimicrobial and wound healing properties. However, the process of extraction and purification for isolating ?-glucans from the other components is complex, expensive and may cause polymer chain degradations. In light of this, the aim of this work was the development of low-cost simultaneous extractions of proteins and polysaccharides from barley by-products, to prevent polymer degradation. It is well known that ZnO is widely used to prevent or treat topical and systemic diseases, due to its antimicrobial activity. Therefore, films based on different polysaccharide and protein extracted mixtures were prepared with and without ZnO to get cost-effective bioactive wound dressings.