Stabilization of chitosan-polyethylene oxide electrospun nanofibrous containing Colocasia esculenta tuber protein

In this study, protein in Colocasia esculenta tuber (CET) combined with polyethylene oxide (PEO) and chitosan were fabricated by electrospinning, which could be further stabilized by heat treatment and compared with glutaraldehyde vapor. CET's protein containing 6.6% protein with molecular weight 53.5, 42, 24.4, 11.8, and 9.8 kDa shows no cytotoxicity and has the potential growth-stimulatory activities on NIH-3T3 fibroblast cell. The 10% (v/v) acetic acid was found as an appropriate solvent to electrospun the CET's protein-chitosan-PEO solution. The influence of conductivity, surface tension, and viscosity in the solution of CET's protein, chitosan, and PEO on nanofibers morphology was successfully demonstrated. The scanning electron microscope shows that the average diameter of the CET's protein-chitosan-PEO nanofibers decreased with the increased of chitosan and CET's protein content. The chemical and physical stabilization of nanofibers exhibits an increase in the fiber diameter up to 157%. The presence of 1% (w/v) chitosan resulted in a better preservative of the nanofibrous structure after the stabilization process. By the confirmation using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic data, it is concluded that stabilization techniques applied in this study are promising to improve the value of CET's protein-chitosan-PEO nanofiber in medical purposes.