The development of multifunctional hydrogels for biomedical and skincare applications has gained significant interest due to their biocompatibility, tunable properties, and potential for natural bioactive enhancement. Aloe vera based hydrogels exhibit outstanding wound-healing properties in skin care dressings. Aloe vera and hyaluronic acid are widely used in dermocosmetic hydrogels due to their moisturizing and soothing properties. Green tea extract, rich in catechins with strong antioxidant activity, may enhance hydrogel stability while providing additional bioactive benefits. In this study, two composite hydrogels based on Aloe vera gel, hyaluronic acid and Xanthan gum were formulated to evaluate its physicochemical and biological performance. The F2 formulation contained 5 vol% green tea extract, while the F1 formulation contained no green tea extract, enabling a comparative evaluation. The synthesis process involves crosslinking of Aloe vera, hyaluronic acid and Xanthan gum polymer blend, incorporated as lyophilized powders in the original Aloe vera gel, followed by the incorporation of green tea extract into a second hydrogel formulation, in order to compare the physicochemical properties, texture and rheological behavior of both hydrogels. The thermal behavior was analyzed by TG/DTG/DTA. The chemical structure was investigated using FTIR and Raman spectroscopies and the surface texture, microstructure and porosity of the hydrogels by AFM microscopy. Pharmacotechnical evaluation, moisture content, swelling and spreadability studies were also completed. Physical evaluation confirmed that the appearance of the prepared Aloe vera based hydrogels were homogeneous, all other evaluation parameters, e.g., pH, viscosity, spreadability and consistency were found to be adequate. AFM images showed that the structure of the hydrogels condensed into homogeneous polymeric solids. Incorporation of green tea extract enhanced the moisture-retention ability, the swelling ratio increased by ∼150% and contributed to improved structural stability. Rheological analysis indicated that green tea extract addition strengthened the hydrogel network, while morphological observations revealed a more uniform architecture. Biological evaluation of both hydrogels demonstrated good cell compatibility at concentrations below 50 mg/mL, strong stimulatory effect on cell proliferation and migration in scratch assays, and significant reduction in oxidative stress response. These findings support the use of polyphenol-rich botanical extracts as texture stabilizers in natural Aloe vera-based hydrogel systems and suggest that green tea extract enriched hydrogels are promising candidates for moisturizing formulations in skin care.
Chelu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.