The field of medical textiles, an antimicrobial textile in particular is interdisciplinary. Antimicrobial textiles are mainly used in medical and healthcare environments to control the proliferation of microorganisms. The present work is aimed to study the antimicrobial activity of the air plasma treated (PT) nonwoven polypropylene fabric coated with herbs, which can be used as wound dressing. Surface modification of the nonwoven polypropylene fabric was performed using air plasma. The air PT fabric was finished with the methanolic extracts of 11 medicinal herbs. Their antibacterial activities were analyzed against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Of these, three herbs namely Ficus bengalensis, Cleome viscosa, and Areca catechu showed good activity against S. aureus and Escherichia coli. The antibacterial activity of the air PT polypropylene fabric coated with 1 : 1 : 1 combination of the abovementioned herbs was also assessed as per AATCC 100 method and it was found to be 99%. The herbal finished fabric was tested against the predominant wound isolates by agar diffusion method. The results showed excellent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus sp., good antibacterial activity against Bacillus sp., Escherichia sp., Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp., Serratia sp., and Proteus sp. thus proving its potential as wound dressing. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

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Among the various antimicrobial agents available today, the natural plant products comprise the major segment. The natural antimicrobial agents derived from herbs could be the promising candidates for medical and healthcare textiles, mainly due to their ecofriendliness. Thousands of herbs, which have antibiotic, therapeutic, and wound healing properties are available in India. In the present work, the antibacterial activites of Ficus bengalensis, Areca catechu and Cleome viscosa were studied in vitro on different wound causing pathogens. Both the morphological and biochemical analysis of the wound causing pathogens were carried out before they were isolated, purified, and identified. The wound pathogens were identified to belong to Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Serratia, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Proteus genus. Different combinations, such as 1:1:1, 1:2:1, 1:1:2 of the selected herbs were prepared and assessed for their antibacterial activity. The herbal combination of 1:1:1 exhibited higher zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The herbal extract of this combination (1:1:1) was microencapsulated and applied onto the air plasma treated polypropylene nonwoven fabric. The antibacterial activity and the wash durability of the microcapsule-finished fabric were evaluated.