Antimicrobial Properties of Alginate-Chitosan (Alchite) Fibers Developed for Wound Care Applications

Alginate fibers are well established as primary wound dressings, given their well-known sodium/calcium ion exchange ability at the wound surface coupled with their good liquid absorption characteristics. Chitosan, the deacetylated form of chitin is also well known for its hemostatic, antimicrobial, and wound-healing properties. Unique combination of these polysaccharides to form a new generic fiber, known as alchite fibers, has been developed in an earlier work. This article reports on the antimicrobial properties of a range of alchite fibers produced from four different types of hydrolyzed chitosans and two brands of sodium alginate. The article discusses different methods of antimicrobial detection including: submerged fiber technique, zone of inhibition, dilution plating, and spectrophotometric analysis at 600 nm when tested against common skin microflora, i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Micrococcus luteus. This study concludes that while most of the alchite fiber samples have certain degree of antimicrobial properties, some have higher antimicrobial properties than others. The study has also shown that quantitative presence of chitosan within an alchite fiber may not necessarily be the reason for good antimicrobial properties. Factors such as chitosan source, degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, and action of hydrolysis may also affect antimicrobial properties. These findings are most important in endorsing the development of the alchite fibers for wound dressings.