Food Waste Durian Rind-Derived Cellulose Organohydrogels: Toward Anti-Freezing and Antimicrobial Wound Dressing

Hydrogels synthesized from naturally derived raw materials are attracting increasing attention as compared to synthetic hydrogels. In this study, the use of food waste and side-stream products which were generated from the food industry, commonly associated with environmental concerns, were instead treated as a precious resource for hydrogel fabrication. Cellulose with a high purity was extracted from the food byproduct durian rind and used as a natural raw material to prepare water-based cellulose hydrogels. Glycerol was introduced into the water-based hydrogels to fabricate organohydrogels by a simple one-step water–glycerol replacement. Our results showed that the organohydrogels possessed anti-freezing and non-drying properties, and the mechanical property was enhanced by the use of glycerol. Next, natural yeast phenolics were added into the organohydrogels. This endowed the organohydrogels with antimicrobial activity. The prepared organohydrogels showed no cytotoxicity, and when applied as a wound dressing on pig skin as a proof of concept, they showed strong antibacterial activity. Therefore, this suggested that durian rind-based cellulose organohydrogels have the potential to be applied as antimicrobial wound dressing in medical supplies, even at extreme temperature environments such as −30 °C.