Abstract
This study investigated for the first time the antimicrobial effect of methanolic extract of Grewia mollis Juss (mGM) against Staphylococcus aureus KCCM 11256 (Gram positive) and Escherichia coli KCCM 11234 (Gram negative). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for each bacterial strain were recorded in a liquid medium. In addition, ultrafine poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) fiber mats containing a methanolic crude extract (7.5 wt%) of Grewia mollis (mGM) were fabricated from the neat PLGA solution by electrospinning. The PLGA ultrafine fiber mat containing mGM were characterized by SEM, FE-SEM, Bio-TEM, TGA, and EDX analyses. Our findings indicate that the incorporation of mGM in the polymer media affected both the morphology and size of the mGM-loaded PLGA ultrafine fibers (UFs). SEM-EDX results confirmed well oriented ultrafine fibers with good incorporation of mGM. Results of the structure characterization indicated that the incorporated mGM interacted strongly with the PLGA matrix and the mechanical properties were effectively improved. Moreover, mGM loaded PLGA ultrafine fiber mats were able to inhibit the growth of the bacterial strains, which indicate that mGM blended PLGA fibers could be used as a potential effective antimicrobial agent for many biomedical applications including wound dressing.