Polysaccharides-based hydrogels as smart drug delivery systems to enhance wound healing applications

Polysaccharides-based hydrogels have caught the attention of the biomedical industry, as they are natural biodegradable and biocompatible polymers, usable as delivery systems of health-beneficial antioxidant and antimicrobial substances. The expectations of this work are focused on the synthesis and an in-depth characterization of hydrogels from modified starch, usable as drug delivery systems for biomedical applications. Agri-food wastes were used as feedstock of starch thus reducing the environmental impact of wastes and meeting the increasing demand for eco-friendly products. After chemical modification of starch by oxidation reaction with sodium periodate (NaIO4) in water, aldehyde derivatives were produced. The oxidized products were frozen, thus obtaining hydrogels with enhanced resistance to dissolution degradation rate, and high swellability, and which were characterized bydifferent techniques such as NMR, FTIR and TEM. Subsequently, the synthesized hydrogels were "loaded" by the adsorption of peppermint essential oil, known from the literature to possess beneficial biological functions including antiviral, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. The ability of hydrogels to act as delivery systems was proven by means of qNMR spectroscopy, determining a drug release profile. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity showed interesting results. The synthesized hydrogels are suitable materials for producing dressings able to promote the wound healing process.