Biopolymeric hydrogel with “polyherbal” extracts: A broader aspect in biomedicine uniquely intervening wound healing and dressing as promising therapeutics

Acute and chronic wound management remains a clinical challenge, requiring sophisticated therapeutic techniques to promote healing and prevent infection. The three-dimensional polymeric frameworks of hydrogel offer synergistic potential of integrating polyherbal extracts that can be used as cutting-edge approach to wound care. This review synthesizes current knowledge on wound pathophysiology, design principles of hydrogel dressings, and the classification of hydrogels, highlighting their suitability as a potent drug delivery system. The paper also emphasises the benefits of polyherbal extracts that use multitarget and pleotropic effects of the phytoconstituents to speed wound contraction, scarless healing, and regeneration. It outlines fabrication and drug loading strategies and explicates mechanisms by which herbal phytochemicals and incorporated growth factors promote healing. Emerging trends such as stimuli-responsive “smart hydrogels,” microneedle delivery, nanocomposite antimicrobials, and AI-guided designs are reviewed. The article concludes that ornamenting hydrogels with monoherbal or polyherbal extracts represents a paradigm shift in wound management, offering an efficient, cost-effective, and multifaceted therapeutic intervention with vast potential for future clinical translation in regenerative medicine. Graphical abstract