Quercetin functionalized hybrid electrospun nanofibers for wound dressing application

[Display omitted] •Quercetin incorporated in polycaprolactone/gelatin nanofibers.•Nanofibers exhibited good wettability, improved mechanical strength and continuous drug release.•Demonstrated antibacterial activity, supports fibroblast proliferation and enhances wound contraction.•Quercetin nanofibers can be used for wound dressing applications. Quercetin is a potential phytochemical with high anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities known to treat numerous ailments. In this study, quercetin loaded polycaprolactone (PCL)/gelatin (GLN) electrospun nanofiber was synthesized and their wound healing efficiency was evaluated. The results showed that the quercetin loaded nanofibers had a continuous, smooth and bead-free morphology with improved surface hydrophilicity. The quercetin incorporated nanofibers exhibited greater mechanical strength with bactericidal activity. The biocompatibility of the synthesized nanofibers on 3T3 fibroblast cells was examined by MTT assay and AO/EtBr staining. Further, the wound healing efficiency was evaluated in vivo on male Wistar rats. The in vivo study revealed a significant contraction of the wounds within 18 days with increased angiogenesis, reepithelization and collagen synthesis for quercetin nanofibers treated wounds. Overall, as synthesized nanofibers provided desired integrity and hydrophilicity to develop the therapeutic system for wound dressing applications.