Turmeric Polymer Fiber Mats (T-PFMs): Solution Blow Spun Turmeric/PLGA Composites as a Comprehensive Wound Care Platform

This work lays the groundwork to transform turmeric, a historically used natural wound remedy, into a modern, comprehensive wound care and hemostatic biomaterial in the form of solution blow-spun, bioresorbable turmeric/PLGA polymer fiber mats (PFMs). Ultrafine polymer mats were produced using a bottom-loading, siphon-fed airbrush to spray a turmeric/PLGA solution in acetone, enabling rapid and uniform fiber deposition onto a surface. Optimal turmeric loading in the PFM was identified based on dynamic mechanical analysis and surface wettability, with 0.5% (w/v) tur/PLGA selected for further evaluation. The optimized PFMs were then characterized to evaluate water uptake capacity, degradation kinetics, and surface morphology. Turmeric-loaded PFMs inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and promoted ∼30% faster wound contraction, greater re-epithelialization, and well-organized, mature collagen deposition compared to controls in a murine skin excisional wound model. A pilot mouse tail-vein amputation bleeding model further demonstrated the potential of turmeric-PFMs to be used as a hemostatic dressing. This report lays the foundation for the development of a bioresorbable, turmeric-based, comprehensive wound care platform.