Turmeric based adhesive bandage developed by a scientist in Odisha

A scientist in Odisha has come up with a turmeric-based adhesive bandage. Dr. Sanjeeb Sahoo, a senior scientist at Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) has developed a prototype of an adhesive bandage that puts curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric in a reliable base that can be used as a band-aid.

Talking about the medicinal benefits of turmeric, Dr. Sahoo said that turmeric is being used in India as an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal medicine.

He added that the anti-inflammatory power of turmeric could not be fully utilized so far due to the lack of a reliable application system.

The anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial concoction has to be applied topically but the problem with turmeric is its insolubility in water.

Dr. Sahoo has succeeded in making curcumin emulsion with lipid and blended it in a sponge-like frame of alginate and chitosan, two biocompatible and biodegradable polymers long used gainfully in drug delivery, using a bit of nanotechnology.

Reports state that many scientific laboratories across the world have been working to increase the stability of curcumin in blood but due to poor kinetics, curcumin breaks down in blood fast and loses all its properties. The bad-aid developed by Dr. Sahoo ensures that curcumin works better than curcumin ointments and gels.

On that note, this is going to be the first curcumin adhesive bandage ever and Dr. Sahoo says that it will prove effective.

Dr.Sahoo, hailing from Odisha’s Jaipur district served as a JSPS post-doctoral fellow at Kumamoto University in Japan and Nebraska Medical Centre in the USA before joining ILS in 2005. He was among the ten Indian scientists featured among the world’s 4000 promising researchers in 2018.

The technology of the band-aid was transferred last year to Golap Pharmaceuticals, a Jaipur-Rajasthan-based company.

As per reports, mass production is likely to begin by the end of this year after the necessary approvals are obtained from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).