This study aims to develop orange oil loaded in thin mango peel pectin films and evaluate their antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. The mango peel pectin was obtained from the extraction of ripe Nam Dokmai mango peel by the microwave-assisted method. The thin films were formulated using commercial low methoxy pectin (P) and mango pectin (M) at a ratio of 1:2 with and without glycerol as a plasticizer. Orange oil was loaded into the films at 3% w/w. The orange oil film containing P and M at ratio of 1:2 with 40% w/w of glycerol (P₁M₂GO) showed the highest percent elongation (12.93 ± 0.89%) and the lowest Young’s modulus values (35.24 ± 3.43 MPa). For limonene loading content, it was found that the amount of limonene after the film drying step was directly related to the final physical structure of the film. Among the various tested films, P₁M₂GO film had the lowest limonene loading content (59.25 ± 2.09%), which may be because of the presence of numerous micropores in the P₁M₂GO film’s matrix. The inhibitory effect against the growth of S. aureus was compared in normalized value of clear zone diameter using the normalization value of limonene content in each film. The P₁M₂GO film showed the highest inhibitory effect against S. aureus with the normalized clear zone of 11.75 mm but no statistically significant difference. This study indicated that the orange oil loaded in mango peel pectin film can be a valuable candidate as antibacterial material for food packaging.

Water hyacinth is an aquatic weed species that grows rapidly. In particular, it causes negative impacts on the aquatic environment and ecological system. However, water hyacinth is rich in cellulose, which is a biodegradable material. This study isolated cellulose from the water hyacinth petiole. It was then used to fabricate composite hydrogels made with water hyacinth cellulose (C), alginate (A), and pectin (P) at different mass ratios. The selected water hyacinth cellulose-based hydrogel was incorporated with quercetin, and its properties were evaluated. The FTIR and XRD of extracted water hyacinth cellulose indicated specific characteristics of cellulose. The hydrogel which consisted of the water hyacinth cellulose alginate characterized pectin: pectin had a mass ratio of 2.5:0.5:0.5 (C_2.5A_0.5P_0.5), showed good puncture strength (2.16 ± 0.14 N/mm²), the highest swelling index (173.28 ± 4.94%), and gel content (39.35 ± 0.53%). The FTIR showed an interaction between water hyacinth cellulose and quercetin with hydrogen bonding. The C_2.5A_0.5P_0.5 hydrogel containing quercetin possessed 92.07 ± 5.77% of quercetin-loaded efficiency. It also exhibited good antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa due to hydrogel properties, and no toxicity to human cells. This study indicated that water hyacinth cellulose-composited hydrogel is suitable for topical antibacterial applications.

In this study, we aimed to develop a low-mexthoxyl pectin (LMP) from mango peel pectin through a de-esterification method for use as a film forming agent. The prepared de-esterified pectin (DP) was compared to commercial LMP (cLMP) which possessed a 29% degree of esterification (DE). Mango peel pectin was extracted from ripe Nam Dokmai mango peel using the microwave-assisted extraction method. Pectin derived from the mango peel was classified as a high mexthoxyl pectin (79% DE) with 75% of galacturonic acid (GalA) content. A de-esterification experiment was designed by central composite design to plot the surface response curve. Our prepared DP was classified as LMP (DE 29.40%) with 69% GalA. In addition, the Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) spectra of the DP were similar to cLMP and the pectin backbone was not changed by the de-esterification process. Strikingly, the cLMP and DP films showed non-significant differences between their physical properties (p > 0.05) with respect to the puncture strength (13.72 N/mm² and 11.13 N/mm² for the cLMP and DP films, respectively), percent elongation (2.75% and 2.52% for the cLMP and DP films, respectively), and Young’s modulus (67.69 N/mm² and 61.79 N/mm² for the cLMP and DP films, respectively). The de-esterified pectin containing clindamycin HCl (DPC) and low-methoxyl pectin containing clindamycin HCl (cLMPC) films demonstrated 93.47% and 98.79% of drug loading content. The mechanical properties of the cLMPC and DPC films were improved possibly due to their crystal structures and a plasticizing effect of clindamycin HCl loaded into the films. The DPC film exhibited a drug release profile similar to that of the cLMPC film. Our anti-bacterial test of the films found that the cLMPC film showed 41.11 and 76.30 mm inhibitory clear zones against Staphylococcus aureus and Cutibacterium acnes, respectively. The DPC film showed 40.78 and 74.04 mm clear zones against S. aureus and C. acnes, respectively. The antibacterial activities of the cLMPC and DPC films were not significantly different from a commercial clindamycin solution. The results of this study suggest that mango peel pectin can be de-esterified and utilized as an LMP and the de-esterified pectin has the potential for use as a film forming agent, similar to cLMP. In addition, the remarkable use of de-esterified mango peel pectin to prepare films, as shown by our study, holds a great promise as an alternative material for anti-bacterial purposes.

Polymeric nanoparticles are one method to modify the drug release of small hydrophilic molecules. In this study, clindamycin HCl was used as a model drug loaded in carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles cross-linked with Ca²⁺ ions (CMCS-Ca²⁺). The ultrasonication with experimental design was used to produce CMCS-Ca²⁺ nanoparticles loading clindamycin HCl. The model showed that the size of nanoparticles decreased when amplitude and time increased. The nanoparticle size of 318.40 ± 7.56 nm, decreased significantly from 543.63 ± 55.07 nm (p < 0.05), was obtained from 75% of amplitude and 180 s of time, which was one of the optimal conditions. The clindamycin loading content in this condition was 34.68 ± 2.54%. The drug content in nanoparticles showed an inverse relationship with the size of the nanoparticles. The sodium carboxymethylcellulose film loading clindamycin HCl nanoparticles exhibited extended release with 69.88 ± 2.03% drug release at 60 min and a gradual increase to 94.99 ± 4.70% at 24 h, and demonstrated good antibacterial activity against S. aureus and C. acne with 40.72 ± 1.23 and 48.70 ± 1.99 mm of the zone of inhibition at 24 h, respectively. Thus, CMCS-Ca²⁺ nanoparticles produced by the ultrasound-assisted technique could be a potential delivery system to modify the drug release of small hydrophilic antibiotics.

Composite bacterial cellulose (BC) based hydrogel with alginate (A) or pectin (P) or alginate and pectin was fabricated via a physical crosslinking technique using calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solution and incorporated with polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as an effective antimicrobial drug by immersion method. After that, the physicochemical properties of all hydrogel formulations were characterized. The result showed that the formulations with PHMB performed better physicochemical properties than the hydrogel without PHMB. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed the interaction between PHMB and the carboxylic group of alginate and pectin. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel performed suitable mechanical strength, fluid uptake ability, water retention property, drug content, high integrity value, and maximum swelling degree. Moreover, in vitro cell viability of BC/A-PHMB hydrogel revealed high biocompatibility with human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and demonstrated prolong released of PHMB in Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.4, while rapid release in phosphate buffer saline pH 7.4. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel demonstrated good anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, BC/A-PHMB hydrogel could be a potential dual crosslinked ion-based hydrogel for wound dressing with anti-bacterial activity.

The surface modification of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) using a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)/sodium bromide (NaBr)/sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) system was successful in improving their hydrophilicity. Following that, we fabricated hydrogels containing carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (c-CNFs) and loaded them with polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) using a physical crosslinking method, aiming for efficient antimicrobial uses. The morphological and physicochemical properties of all hydrogel formulations were characterized, and the results revealed that the 7% c-CNFs-2 h loaded with PHMB formulation exhibited desirable characteristics such as regular shape, high porosity, good mechanical properties, suitable gel content, and a good maximum swelling degree. The successful integration of PHMB into the c-CNF matrix was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Furthermore, the 7% c-CNFs-2 h loaded with the PHMB formulation demonstrated PHMB contents exceeding 80% and exhibited a prolonged drug release pattern for up to 3 days. Moreover, this formulation displayed antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, the novel approach of c-CNF hydrogels loaded with PHMB through physical crosslinking shows promise as a potential system for prolonged drug release in topical drug delivery while also exhibiting excellent antibacterial activity.