Antibacterial Activity Assessment of Chitosan/Alginate Lavender Essential Oil Membranes for Biomedical Applications
Encarnación Cruz Sánchez,
María Teresa García,
Ignacio Gracia,
Soledad Illescas Fernández-Bermejo,
Juan Francisco Rodríguez,
Jesús Manuel García-Vargas,
Dolors Vidal Roig
Affiliations
Encarnación Cruz Sánchez
Department of Chemical Engineering, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologías Químicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
María Teresa García
Department of Chemical Engineering, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologías Químicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Ignacio Gracia
Department of Chemical Engineering, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologías Químicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Soledad Illescas Fernández-Bermejo
Department of Medical Sciences, Microbiology Area, Facultad de Medicina, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Paseo de Moledores s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Juan Francisco Rodríguez
Department of Chemical Engineering, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologías Químicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Jesús Manuel García-Vargas
Department of Chemical Engineering, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologías Químicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Dolors Vidal Roig
Department of Medical Sciences, Microbiology Area, Facultad de Medicina, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Paseo de Moledores s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
The demand for natural products in the treatment of dermatological pathologies has boosted the use of bioactive substances such as lavender essential oil (LEO), which stands out for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and its antimicrobial potential. Biopolymers such as chitosan (CHT) and alginate (ALG) are biodegradable and biocompatible and have proven their viability in biomedical applications such as skin regeneration. The inhibitory effect of LEO on the growth of skin-related bacterial species Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the fungus Candida albicans was studied by incorporating 1% v/v LEO encapsulated in CHT, ALG, and CHT/ALG membranes. Despite the verification of the antimicrobial effect of all type of membranes, no synergistic effect was observed following the addition of LEO. S. aureus and P. aeruginosa showed the most growth on the different substrates and C. albicans demonstrated the highest inhibition. This is a first approach using microorganisms isolated from clinical samples or skin microbiota. Further investigation would be advisable using more clinical strains for each microorganism to validate their biomedical applicability.
