Utilisation of sago starch for wound dressing

Sago starch is utilized in Malaysia mainly for the purpose of food production. The purpose of the research is to diversify the use of sago starch for medical application particularly in development of hydrogel wound dressing. The sago starch is blending with water-soluble polymer such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene oxide and irradiated with electron beam accelerator to form hydrogel. The parameters such gel strength, elasticity, swelling, gel fraction and tackiness have to be consider for this type of application. We also study the effect of adding additive such as carboxymethyl cellulose and polypropylene glycol into the system to enhance the property of sago starch hydrogel. Works on the use of chitosan in the blend have been performed, in order to prevent microbiological growth such as bacteria and fungi on the hydrogel. (author)