The positive interaction between polysaccharides with active phytochemicals
found in medicinal plants may represent a strategy to create active wound
dressing materials useful for skin repair. In the present work, blended
membranes composed of chitosan (Cht) and Aloe vera gel were prepared
through the solvent casting, and were crosslinked with genipin to improve their
properties. Topography, swelling, wettability, mechanical properties and in vitro
cellular response of the membranes were investigated. With the incorporation of
aloe vera gel into chitosan solution, the developed chitosan/aloe-based
membranes displayed increased roughness and wettability; while the genipin
crosslinking promoted the formation of stiffer membranes in comparison to
those of the non-modified membranes. Moreover, in vitro cell culture studies
evidenced that the L929 cells have high cell viability, confirmed by MTS test and
calcein-AM staining. The findings suggested that both blend compositions and
crosslinking affected the physico-chemical properties and cellular behavior of
the developed membranes.