Shahriar Osfouri

The present study reports on a green method for the fabrication of wound dressing loaded with Pistacia atlantica extract. The oil was extracted from P. atlantica plant using a solvent extraction process. The UV-vis spectroscopy showed that the phenolic compounds existed in the P. atlantica oil (PAO). The result of the antioxidant activity with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay illustrated an IC50 value of 7.26 mg/ml, which indicated that the PAO was a significant source of natural antioxidants. Then, the PAO-loaded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-sodium alginate (SA) nanofibres were successfully produced using the electrospinning process. The results of field emission scanning electron microscopy showed that the addition of the PAO to the polymer solution increased the diameter of the fabricated nanofibres, while the optimum blending concentration of the PAO for obtaining the maximum scaffold stiffness was almost 1.5% (w/v). The physical properties of the fabricated nanofibres were evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction technique, and thermogravimetric-derivative and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that the PAO was bonded to the structure of the PVA/SA nanofibres, and the crystallinity, as well as the thermal stability of the fabricated nanofibres increased due to this attachment. In addition, the experiments showed that the PAO concentration in the structure of the fabricated nanofibres played a major role in the drug release rate, and increasing the PAO concentration from the optimum value decreased the controlled release of the drug. Last, based on the two-film theory, a mass transfer model was developed to predict the PAO released from the fabricated wound dressing.