Obtainment of bacterial cellulose with added propolis extract for cosmetic applications

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a versatile material produced by microorganisms in the form of a hydrogel film with high water retention capacity, porosity, and mechanical strength. BC can incorporate and release substances, making it an interesting polymer for use in the cosmetic and biomedical industries. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of a bacterium for the production of cellulose films in which propolis extract was added in situ and ex situ (during and after membrane production, respectively) with promising use as a skincare product. The bacterium Gluconacetobacter hansenii was grown in standard Hestrin–Schramm (HS) medium as well as HS medium with propolis extract for 7 days. A radiolytic process with 60Co was investigated as a safe sterilization method. The average yield was 120.55 ± 2.40 g of cellulose/L. The polymeric system exhibited antioxidant activity (15.16% inhibition of oxidant activity) and high water‐retention capacity (98.01 ± 0.17%). In conclusion, natural additives can provide the antioxidant characteristics of BC. Moreover, gamma irradiation proved to be an effective sterilization method, while maintaining the properties of the material.

Bacterial Cellulose as a Versatile Biomaterial for Wound Dressing Application

“…The biopolymer’s intrinsic biological and physicochemical properties and structural characteristics, being large surface area, high porosity, and low density make these materials suitable for applications as biomaterials used in regenerative medicine [ 60 ], tissue engineering [ 61 ], drug delivery [ 62 ], wound dressings [ 63 ], anti-cancer treatments [ 64 ], antimicrobial agents [ 5 ], the reduction of obesity [ 65 ], biosensors [ 66 ], etc. Such versatility is due to the ease of processing biopolymers in different formats, such as sponges, scaffolds, hydrogels, and membranes [ 67 ].…”

“…Unlike other types of synthetic membranes and even other types of biopolymers, the unique characteristics, properties and versatility make BC a biopolymer with considerable potential to be exploited by biotechnology in broad range of applications, such as medicine [ 67 ], foods [ 99 ], surgical and protection masks [ 100 ], cosmetics [ 5 ], electronics [ 101 , 102 ] and packaging [ 10 , 103 ], as well as for the separation of oily mixtures [ 7 , 104 ], among other fields.…”

“…Studies offer promising results regarding the modification of BC to give it antimicrobial properties. The different modifications include the incorporation of antibiotics (such as Bacitracin and Amoxicillin) [ 15 ], silver nanoparticles [ 117 , 118 ], copper nanoparticles [ 119 , 120 ], silver chloride nanoparticles [ 121 ], silver montmorillonite nanoparticles [ 122 ], impregnation of montmorillonite nanocomposites [ 123 ], benzalkonium chloride solution [ 124 ] the use of immobilized lysozyme in bacterial cellulose nanofibers [ 125 ], the incorporation of propolis extract [ 5 ] and the creation of a BC–chitosan composite [ 123 ]. BC can also be applied as scaffolds for seeding of cells.…”

“…Moreover, works have been carried out on the development of nanotechnology with BC for use in cosmetics [ 5 ], effluent filtration [ 6 , 7 ], as well as textile [ 8 ], biomedical [ 9 ], packaging [ 10 ], and magnetic [ 11 ] applications, among others. BC has characteristics that combine fundamental nanofibrillar and macromolecular properties for applications both in vitro and in vivo in the biomedical field [ 12 , 13 ].…”

Design of a Naturally Dyed and Waterproof Biotechnological Leather from Reconstituted Cellulose

“…Although plants are the major source of cellulose, several genera of microorganisms are also capable of producing this substance, which is known as bacterial cellulose or biocellulose (BC). As BC is considered a low-cost, extremely versatile, ecologically correct biopolymer, studies involving different applications of this biomaterial have increased over the years [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”