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Herein, the effect of three deterpenated fractions from Origanum majorana L. essential oil on the physicochemical, mechanical and biological properties of chitosan/β-chitin nanofibers-based nanocomposite films were investigated. In general, the incorporation of Origanum majorana L. original essential oil or its deterpenated fractions increases the opacity of the nanocomposite films and gives them a yellowish color. The water solubility decreases from 58% for chitosan/β-chitin nanofibers nanocomposite film to around 32% for the nanocomposite films modified with original essential oil or its deterpenated fractions. Regarding the thermal stability, no major changes were observed, and the mechanical properties decreased. Interestingly, data show differences on the biological properties of the materials depending on the incorporated deterpenated fraction of Origanum majorana L. essential oil. The nanocomposite films prepared with the deterpenated fractions with a high concentration of oxygenated terpene derivatives show the best antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger, with fungal growth inhibition of around 85.90%. Nonetheless, the only nanocomposite film that does not present cytotoxicity on the viability of L929 fibroblast cells after 48 and 72 h is the one prepared with the fraction presenting the higher terpenic hydrocarbon content (87.92%). These results suggest that the composition of the deterpenated fraction plays an important role in determining the biological properties of the nanocomposite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan nanofibrous membranes are prepared via an electrospinning technique and explored as potential wound healing patches. In particular, the effect of a physical or chemical crosslinking treatment on the mat morphological, mechanical, water-related, and biological properties is deeply evaluated. The use of phosphate ions (i.e., physical crosslinking) allows us to obtain smooth and highly homogenous nanofibers with an average size of 190 nm, whereas the use of ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (i.e., chemical crosslinking) leads to rougher, partially coalesced, and bigger nanofibers with an average dimension of 270 nm. Additionally, the physically crosslinked mats show enhanced mechanical performances, as well as greater water vapour permeability and hydrophilicity, with respect to the chemically crosslinked ones. Above all, cell adhesion and cytotoxicity experiments demonstrate that the use of phosphate ions as crosslinkers significantly improves the capability of chitosan mats to promote cell viability owing to their higher biocompatibility. Moreover, tuneable drug delivery properties are achieved for the physically crosslinked mats by a simple post-processing impregnation methodology, thereby indicating the possibility to enrich the prepared membranes with unique features. The results prove that the proposed approach may lead to the preparation of cheap, biocompatible, and efficient chitosan-based nanofibers for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]