Dried Fruit of the Luffa Sponge as a Source of Chitin for Applications as Skin Substitutes

Abstract EN

LUFFACHITIN obtained from the residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca was developed as a weavable skin substitute in this study.

A chemical analysis revealed that LUFFACHITIN was composed of a copolymer containing N-acetyl-glucosamine (~40%) as a major monomer with a filamentary structure as demonstrated by both optical and scanning electron microscopy.

The pulp-like white residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca after treatment was then woven into a thin, porous membrane by filtration and lyophilization as a skin substitute for conducting wound-healing study on rats.

The results indicated that the LUFFACHITIN membrane showed significant wound-healing enhancement (25 days to complete healing) compared to cotton gauze (>30 days), but not inferior to that of SACCHACHITIN.

Furthermore, the LUFFACHITIN membrane had advantages of having a high yield, better physical properties for fabrication, and a more attractive appearance.