Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers embedded with thyme (Thymus vulgaris) extract: A comprehensive In Vitro evaluation of antimicrobial, antibiofilm, antioxidant, and antidiabetic properties with potential for wound dressing applications

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant wound infections and the demand for multifunctional biomaterials have motivated the development of plant-based nanofibrous platforms. This study reports the fabrication, characterization, and comprehensive biological evaluation of multifunctional electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers embedded with thyme (Thymus) extract at various loading rates (T1%, T5%, T10%, and T20%). The research evaluated the nanofibers across six critical biological domains: antimicrobial activity, biofilm inhibition, microbial cell viability, antioxidant capacity, surface antimicrobial performance, and antidiabetic activity. The results revealed a significant concentration-dependent enhancement in all tested areas. The T20%/PVA nanofibers exhibited the strongest performance, showing high antimicrobial activity (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)) values as low as 32 mg/L and potent surface antimicrobial activity with inhibition rates reaching 98.72% for Staphylococcus aureus . Biofilm inhibition assays and microbial cell viability tests further confirmed that the nanofibers effectively disrupted the structural integrity and metabolic activity of both Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Additionally, the high phenolic content of the extract imparted significant antioxidant activity, reaching a 92.64% DPPH scavenging rate. Finally, the nanofibers demonstrated strong antidiabetic activity by inhibiting α-amylase (84.13%), exhibiting performance comparable to the commercial drug acarbose. The results show that thyme-embedded PVA nanofibers are excellent multifunctional biomaterials that have great potential for application in wound dressing, antimicrobial coating and therapeutic applications. It should be noted that PVA is water-soluble and crosslinking treatment was not performed for this study. Hence, additional studies of the water stability, crosslinking methods, and biocompatibility are needed to prove their feasibility for the use as wound healing agents.