Outstanding wound healing activity of gum tragacanth (GT) and higher mechanical strength of poly
(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) may produce an excellent nanofibrous patch for either skin tissue engineering or
wound dressing application. PCL/GT scaffold containing different concentrations of PCL with different blend
ratios of GT/PCL was produced using 90% acetic acid as solvent. The results demonstrated that the PCL/GT
(3:1.5) with PCL concentration of 20% (w/v) produced nanofibers with proper morphology. Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were utilized to characterize the nanofibers.
Surface wettability, functional groups analysis, porosity and tensile properties of nanofibers were evaluated.
Morphological characterization showed that the addition of GT to PCL solution results in decreasing the average
diameter of the PCL/GT nanofibers. However, the hydrophilicity increased in the PCL/GT nanofibers. Slight
increase in melting peaks was observed due to the blending of PCL with GT nanofibers. PCL/GT nanofibers
were used for in vitro cell culture of human fibroblast cell lines AGO and NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. MTT assay
and SEM results showed that the biocomposite PCL/GT mats enhanced the fibroblast adhesion and proliferation
compared to PCL scaffolds. The antibacterial activity of PCL/GT and GT nanofibers against Staphylococcus aureus
and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also examined.