Plant-based electrospun nanofibers are widely
fabricated as wound dressing in recent years primarily due to the
presence of bioactive compounds which can facilitate the wound
healing effects. In this study, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fibre mats
containing Aquilaria malaccensis leaf extract (ALEX) [5, 10 and
15 %(w/w)] were fabricated by electrospinning method as
potential wound dressing material. The nanofibers were uniform,
beadless and randomly oriented with average diameters ranged
between 195.27 – 281.20 nm. The presence of ALEX in the PVA
nanofibers were evaluated by Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC). The mechanical properties, swelling
degree and weight loss of nanofiber mats were also determined.
ALEX was rapidly released from the ALEX-loaded PVA
nanofibers in the first 12 hours and increased gradually
afterwards. The released rate of ALEX was dependent on the
ALEX content in the PVA nanofibers. This result is also
contributed by the swelling degree and porosity of the nanofibers
where the results were found to be between 241.66 – 305.86% and
64.53 – 30.81%, respectively. Meanwhile, the tensile stress and
maximum elongation at break for all electrospun nanofiber mats
were in the range of 8.56 – 2.68 MPa and 205.94 – 166.31%,
respectively. The nanofiber mats inhibited growth of Escherichia
coli, Vibrio vulnificus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus
aureus with zone of inhibition of 7.5 - 15.0 mm for gram positive
bacteria and 6.1 - 11.7 mm for gram negative bacteria.
ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers also showed potent
anti-inflammatory activity against lipoxygenase with percentage
of inhibition between 80.887 – 86.977%. Taken together, the
results of this study suggest that ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers
have the desired properties of bioactive wound dressing.