Antimicrobial effect of oxidized cellulose salts

Antimicrobial properties of oxidized cellulose and its salts in linters (-L) and microsphere (-M) form (OKCEL(R) H-L, OKCEL(R) Zn-M, OKCEL(R) ZnNa-L, OKCEL(R) ZnNa-M and OKCEL(R) Ag-L) were tested by a dilution method against a spectrum of microbial strains: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus licheniformis, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, Rhizopus oryzae, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. OKCEL(R) Ag-L exhibited antimicrobial activity in the range 0.1-3.5% w/v against all the bacteria and fungi involved in this study. Strong inhibition by OKCEL(R) ZnNa-M was observed for Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus licheniformis, Rhizopus oryzae, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis in the range 0.5-2.0% w/v. Antimicrobial effects of oxidized cellulose and its salts in textile form were investigated by a diffusion and dilution method against the spectrum of above-cited microbial strains extended by Clostridium perfringens. Generally, OKCEL(R) Ag-T, OKCEL(R) Zn-T and OKCEL(R) H-T showed high antimicrobial activity against populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus licheniformis and Staphylococcus epidermidis. OKCEL(R) Zn-T was the only sample suppressing the growth of species.