FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to a process for preparing curcumin encapsulated chitosan
alginate sponge useful for wound healing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Wound healing is a complex physiological response to the injury. It is a very
systemic biological, chemical, and mechanical event where the invaded
pathogens removed from the damaged wound site for complete or partial
remodeling of injured tissue. In general, it precedes in a very orderly and efficient
manner characterized by three interrelated dynamic and overlapping phases,
namely, inflammatory phase (consisting the establishment of homeostasis and
inflammation; proliferative phase (consisting of granulation, contraction and
epithelialisation) and finally the remodeling phase [1-3]. However, in severe
pathologic conditions this cascade healing process is lost and the wounds are
locked into a state of chronic inflammation characterized by abundant neutrophil
infiltration with associated release of inflammatory mediators including reactive
oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and their derivatives. These radicals
will result in oxidative stress leading to lipid peroxidation, DNA breakage, and
enzyme inactivations ultimately cause local and distant pathophysiological
inflammatory effects [1,4]. Mitigation of this dysregulated chronic inflammation
(the major cause of impaired wound healing) and finding a safe and efficacious
anti-inflammatory agent is a frontier challenge in modern medicine. However, the
role of oxidants in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases suggests
that antioxidant has effective strategy for therapeutic approaches to such
disorders [5]. To this end, anti oxidant activities of the traditional medicine give a
new horizon for better healing treatment. Topical applications of compound with

free radical scavenging properties have shown significant improvement in wound
healing and protect tissue from oxidative damage [6]. In this regard, topical
application of the upcoming anti-inflammatory drug modality of natural herbal
extracts curcumin and its antioxidants properties will be certainly benefit against
oxidative damage and be helpful to the better healing of the wound.
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a naturally occurring photochemical derived from
the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa). It has low intrinsic toxicity but a wide
range of pharmacological activity including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and
anti-infective properties [7-10]. The antioxidant activity of curcumin could be
attributed to the phenolic and the methoxy groups in conjunction with the 1,3-
diketone conjugated diene system, for scavenging of the oxygen radicals. In this
view, several in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of
curcumin to decrease the release of inflammatory cytokines like interleukin (IL)-8
and tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) from monocytes and macrophages and
further to inhibit enzymes associates with inflammation, such as cyclo-oxygenase
(COX)-2 and lipoxygenase (LOX) [11,12]. By reducing the effects of these
enzymes, curcumin has shown to prevent the inflammation symptoms of many
diseases like arthritis and alzheimer's disease [13]. Furthermore, various studies
using rat models showed the accelerated wound healing activity of curcumin
owing to its powerful anti-oxidant property. Also the ability of curcumin to assist
wound healing in diabetic mice has been well demonstrated by various groups.
Where curcumin treatment in diabetic wound demonstrated an increased
formation of granulation tissue, neovascularization and enhanced biosynthesis of
extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, such as collagen [14]. Similarly,
Panchatcharam et al in rat model demonstrated on treatment of curcumin, lipid

peroxides (LPs) was decreased, while the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD),
catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), activities were significantly
increased exhibiting the antioxidant properties of curcumin in accelerating wound
healing [4]. These observations demonstrated, curcumin has a property to
scavenge free radicals, which is the major cause of inflammation during wound
healing activity. Despite these unique biological activities, a major problem
associated with curcumin delivery is its extreme low solubility in aqueous
solubility in aqueous solutions, which limits its bioavailability and clinical efficacy
[8,11,12]. One possible method to achieve this paradigm is encapsulating and
delivering curcumin to inflammatory site with wound dressing sponge. This
sponge are fabricated with various biocompatible and biodegradable materials,
such as alginate, chitosan, gelatin and poly (ethylene glycol) and recently gained
the attention in pharmaceutical and biomedical arena, as matrices for wound
dressings [15,16]. Many types of polymers have been used for drug delivery
system but the requirements of the biocompatibility and biodegradability have
limited the choice of polymers used in clinical application. Some representatives
of such materials are chitosan and alginate. Chitosan is a natural cationic
mucoadhesive polymer, is biologically renewable, biodegradable, biocompatible,
nonantigenic, nontoxic, and biofunctional. It can accelerate the wound healing
process by enhancing the functions of inflammatory cells like macrophages and
fibroblasts. It could inhibit nitric oxide production that has been shown to
contribute to cytotoxicity in cell proliferation during inflammation of wound healing
by the activated RAW 264.7 macrophages and allow the formation of granulation
tissue with angiogenesis [17]. Furthermore, it is a penetration enhancer which
can provide maximum bioavailability of delivered drug at wound site [18].
Whereas, Alginate is an anionic polymer with additional characteristics like
biocompatible, hydrophilic, and biodegradable under normal physiological

conditions [18]. It is able to maintain a physiologically moist microenvironment
that promotes healing and the formation of granulation tissue and achieves
homeostasis [15,16]. In recent year the alginate-chitosan (AC) sponge with
entrapped therapeutics are of special interest for wound healing purposes owing
to their biocompatibility, biodegradaibility and ability to sustain therapeutic drug
levels for prolonged periods of time. Moreover, its polymeric matrix can prevents
the degradation of the drug, by protecting the encapsulated curcumin against
hydrolysis and biotransformation for a longer time. Beside low aqueous solubility,
the major concerned associated with curcumin delivery is its severe
biodegradation and instability in biological pH. In this regard, coating the drug
with large molecules, such as surfactants containing long-chain hydrocarbons,
helps to provide more effective stabilization of entrapped drug in biological
medium. Therefore research groups are using long chain surfactant such as oleic
acid (OA) and its salt for the stabilization of various drug delivery systems.
In this scenario, the current approach was to prepare and characterize curcumin
loaded sponge composed of oleic acid, chitosan and sodium alginate. We
hypothesized that the hydrophobic drug curcumin would partition in to the coated
oleic acid shell. Whereas, alginate and chitosan anchors at the interface of the
OA shell and give the aqueous dispersibility and easy load of hydrophobic
anticancer drug curcumin. Here the positively charged chitosan can be easily
complexed with negatively charged polyanions sodium alginate to form porous
AC sponge through the interionic interaction. The large surface area of the
sponge facilitates the interaction with the healing tissue, thereby serving as a
substrate for the sustained delivery of curcumin as well as improves wound
healing by protecting tissues from oxidative damage. Thus, the aim of the
present study is to evaluate the biological activity of the formulated curcumin-
loaded AC sponge using in vitro and in vivo methods.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
An object of this invention is to propose a process for preparing curcumin
encapsulated chitosan alginate sponge;
Another object of this invention is to propose a curcumin encapsulated chitosan
alginate sponge used for the better healing of the wound;
Further object of this invention is to propose an anti-inflammatory drug for topical
application;
Still further object of this invention is to propose a natural herbal wound dressing
sponge;
Another object of this invention is to propose a potential topical curcumin delivery
system showing sustained release of entrapped curcumin for a longer period of
its administration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
According to this invention there is provided a process for preparing curcumin
encapsulated chitosan alginate sponge comprising the steps of:
incorporating curcumin in a fluid phase of oleic acid;
subjecting the mixture to a step of emulsification with chitosan solution for few
minutes homogenizing the resultant solution with alginate solution;
Lyophilizing the final emulsion by freeze drying to produce curcumin loaded AC
sponge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
Figs.la: shows photograph of different formulations (1:1, 1:2 and 1:3) of alginate
-chitosan sponge.

Figs. 1b: shows Scanning electron micrograph image for sponge containing a)
1:1 alginate -chitosan b) 1:2 alginate - chitosan c) 1:3 alginate - chitosan
Fig. 2: FTIR spectra of (a) Alginate (b) Chitosan (c) curcumin (d) void sponge (e)
1:1 alginate -chitosan sponge (f) 1:2 alginate - chitosan sponge (g) 1:3 alginate
-chitosan sponge
Fig 3a: shows in vitro water uptake ability of different formulation of alginate -
chitosan sponges.
Fig 3b: shows In vitro degradation of alginate - chitosan sponge in PBS
lysozyme solution.
Fig 3c: shows the in vitro release kinetics of curcumin from different formulation
of alginate-chitosan sponge.
Fig 4: shows photographical representation of contraction rate of wound covered
with (a) cotton gauze as control, (b) void 1:2 alginate-chitosan sponge and (c)
curcumin loaded 1:2 alginate - chitosan sponge at different post wounding day of
our observation.
Fig 5: shows total wound area of skin at different post wounding day as a
percentage of original wound size.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
Preparation of curcumin encapsulated chitosan-alginate Sponge:
Briefly, Alginate solution (0.5% w/v) was prepared by dissolving sodium alginate
powder (0.1 g) in 20 ml of deionised water at room temperature. Chitosan
solution (0.5% w/v) was prepared by dissolving chitosan powder (0.1 g) in 20 ml
of deionized water containing acetic acid (1.0% by weight) at room temperature.
To form curcumin encapsulated AC Sponge, 50 mg of curcumin was
incorporated in to fluid phase of 1.75 ml oleic acid. The oleic acid mixture was
then emulsified with chitosan solution for 2 minute. The resultant solution was
further homogenized (Biospacte Product Inc, Bartlesville, OK) for 3 minute with
alginate solution. In this way, curcumin loaded AC sponge solution with different
alginate: chitosan blend ratio (1:1,1:2 and 1:3) were prepared (keeping curcumin
and OA content constant) and pour out in a 6- well plate (well area: 9.6 cm2). The
suspension decant in 6 well plate was lyophilized for three days (-80°C and <10
urn mercury pressure, LYPHLOCK, Labconco, Kansas City, MO) to get
lyophilized sponge for further use.
Physicochemical characterization of chitosan-alginate sponges
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies
The surface morphology of different formulation of curcumin encapsulated AC
Sponge were characterized by SEM (JEOL JSMT220A scanning electron
microscopy, MA) operating at an accelerating voltage of 10-30 Kv. The sponges
were sputtered with gold to make them conductive and placed on a copper stub
prior to the acquisition of SEM images.

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectral study
FTIR spectra were taken in to observation (Perkin Elmer, Model Spectrum RX 1,
USA) to investigate the possible chemical interactions between the curcumin and
the AC sponge matrix. Native curcumin, alginate, chitosan, void sponge, different
formulation of curcumin loaded sponge were crushed with KBr to get the pellets
by applying a pressure of 300 kg/cm2. FTIR spectra of the above sample were
obtained by averaging thirty two interferograms with resolution of 2 cm"1 in the
range of 1000 to 4000 cm"1.
Swelling ability study of sponges
The swelling ability of different formulations of AC sponge was determined by
equilibrium swelling study. The different formulation of sponges 1cmx1cm size
were immersed in to PBS (0.01 M, PH 7.4). The weight of sponges was recorded
every minute until equilibrium was reached. At each emersion interval, the
samples were removed and the absorbed water gently removed with filter paper.
The samples were then weighed immediately on a micro balance. Each
experiment was repeated three times, and the average value was taken as the
percentage water adsorption. The initial sample weight before immersion was
recorded as Wo and the sample weight after each immersion interval was
recorded as We. The percent swelling at equilibrium Esw was calculated from the
Flory-Huggins swelling formula:
E sw (%) = We - W0/ W0 x 100
In vitro degradation Study
The different formulation of AC sponges were incubated at phosphate-buffered
saline (0.01 M, pH 7.4) with 500-1000 U/C.C. of lysozyme concentration in 6-

well plate and kept at 37°C [16]. At required period of time, the sponges were
taken out, washed with deionized water, frozen, and lyophilized. The weights of
the sponges were weighed in a microbalance and percentage of weight loss was
calculated using the following equation:
Weight loss (%) = (Wo-Wt) / Wo x 100.
In vitro release kinetics of curcumin from different formulation of AC sponge by
(HPLC) method
In vitro release kinetics of curcumin from different formulations of curcumin
loaded sponges were determined in PBS (0.01 M, pH 7.4) with little modification.
A total of 10 mg of curcumin-loaded chitosan-alginate sponge was suspended in
3 ml of PBS (0.01 M, pH 7.4). It was mixed properly by vortexing and kept in a
shaker at 37°C, rotating at 150 rpm in an orbit shaking incubator (Wadegati Lab
equip, India). At predetermined time intervals, the samples were collected and
replaced with same volume of fresh PBS (0.01 M, Ph 7.4). The collected samples
were then subjected to centrifugation at 13, 800 rpm, 4°C for 10 min (SIGMA
3K30, Germany ) to obtain the supernatant containing released curcumin. The
released curcumins profile was analysed using reverse phase isocratic mode
(RP-HPLC) system of Waters ™ 600, Waters Co. (Milford, MA, USA) as
described earlier [12]. For this, 20 ul of the sample was injected manually in the
injection port and analyzed in the mobile phase consisting of a mixture of 60%
acetonitrile and 40% citric buffer [1% (w/v) citric acid solution adjusted to pH 3.0
using 50% (w/v) sodium hydroxide solution] which was delivered at flow rate of 1

ml/min with a quaternary pump (M600E WATERS ™) at 25°C with a C 18 column
(Nova-Pak, 150 X 4.6 mm, internal diameter). The curcumin levels were
quantified by visible detector at 420 nm with dual wave length absorbance
detector (M 2489). All measurements were performed in triplicates and the
cumulative percentage of curcumin release was calculated and plotted versus
time.
In vivo wound healing test
The Sprague -Dawley (SD) rats (160-180 g, 6 weeks) were used for wound
healing test. The animals were anaesthetized intramuscularly by ketamine (100
mg/kg ) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). The dorsal hair of the rats was removed. Full-
thickness wound of 1.5 x 1.5 cm2 was excised from the back of the rats. Each
wound was covered with an equal size of curcumin loaded sponge, or void
sponge, or cotton gauge for comparison. All wounds are covered with a piece of
non adherent occlusive bandage. Treated rats were placed in individual cages,
and the healing wounds were observed on the 0th, 4th, 8th and 10th days using a
digital camera (Sony, cyber-shot, DSC-H9). The area of wound was calculated
by measuring the length and breadth of the wound with digital slide calipers.
Results
Physicochemical characterization of chitosan-alginate sponges
AC sponges were successfully prepared as a result of interaction in between
positively charged chitosan and negatively charged sodium alginate. We have
prepared three different formulations of sponge by varying alginate to chitosan in
different ratio (1:1, 1:2 and 1: 3) as shown in Fig-1a. The resultant sponges were
soft, light and fibrous in textures with adequate flexibility which will inevitably be
required for in vivo applications.

Morphology study
Scanning electron microscopy was employed to evaluate the morphological
characteristics of the sponges. The cross section morphology of sponges
appears porous and fibrillar structure in all the three formulations. However, it
was observed that its morphology mainly depends on its alginate and chitosan
content. To this end, we observed the sponge containing 1:1 ratio of alginate -
chitosan was more irregular with highly interconnected cavities (Fig. 1b)
compared to other formulation. Further, with increase in ratio of chitosan to
alginate we found a gradual enlargement of pore size as seen in sponge matrix
(Fig. 1b). This difference could be due to profound interanionic interaction
between alginate and chitosan in sponge formulation containing equal
proportionate of chitosan and alginate compared to other two formulations.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectral study
FTIR analysis was taken in to consideration to confirm the presence of curcumin
in our AC sponge fonmulation as well as to examine any chemical (formation of
chemical bonds) changes that might occurred in the polymer due to the addition
of drug during the synthesis reaction. Fig. 2 shows the FTIR spectra's of alginate,
chitosan, native curcumin void AC sponge and three different formulations of AC
sponges. The characteristic band at 3434 cm-1 can be attributed to -NH2 and -
OH groups stretching vibrations in the chitosan matrix and a band for amide I at
1651 cm"1 can be seen in the infrared spectrum of chitosan [18]. The alginate
spectrum shows characteristic band of carbonyl (C=O) band at 1640 and 1424
cm"1 [16]. The FTIR spectrum of native curcumin exhibited an absorption band at
3510cm"1 attributed to the phenolic O-H stretching vibration. Additionally, sharp
absorption bands at 1605cm-1 (stretching vibrations of benzene ring of curcumin),
1510cm-1 (C =0 and C=C vibrations of curcumin), 1627 cm-1 (C=C double
bonds) and 1602 cm-1 due to aromatic C=C double bonds. These marker peaks

were also found in different formulation of AC sponges and were not noticed in
void sponge, suggesting curcumin exist inside the sponge matrix. Similar results
were also observed by Yallapu et al. and Mohanty et al. [12, 19]. Further, no
shifting of these signature peaks, attributing curcumin could be present in
dispersed condition in different formulation of AC sponges.
Water uptake ability
The ability of the sponge to absorb water is one of the important factors in
determining its biological activity. Here we used PBS to evaluate the uptake
ability (at 37°C) as it mimics the body fluid and conditions. The percent swelling
in three formulation of sponge are given in Fig-3 a. It was observed that all
sample achieved equilibrium after immersion for 1 minute in to PBS solution.
Similarly, all sponges exhibited good swelling as they had the ability to retain
more water due to its high porous infrastructure. The result further demonstrated
the sponge developed from alginate to chitosan ratio 1:1 (w/w proportion)
showed minimum percent of swelling compared to other formulation. The 1:3 AC
sponges showed a highest of about 35% and 1:2 sponges showed a medium of
31% water uptake ability. In contrast, the 1:1 AC sponge gave a minimum value
of about 17% water uptake due to its micro porous configuration compared to
other formulation.
In Vitro Degradation
Sponges used for wound healing should be biocompatible and biodegradable. Its
degradation behavior is a crucial parameter needs to explain before imposing for
long term dressing. So the percentage of weight loss of different formulation of
sponges as a function of degradation time was taken in to observation and the

results are presented in Fig-3 b. The in vitro degradation result degradation result
demonstrated the weight loss for different formulation of AC sponges ranges
from 22% to 65%. Further, it was observed that 1:1 AC sponge showed 1.3 and
2.8 times higher weight loss compared to 1:2 and 1:1 AC sponges respectively.
This result indicated that 1:1 AC sponge was more stable compared to 1:2 and
1:3 sponges, probably because cross linking degree of 1:1 sponge was stronger
than the others.
In vitro Release Kinetics
Therapeutic efficiency of drug loaded sponges solely depends on the dose and
released of the entrapped drug from its matrix at wound site. In this view, while
observing the in vitro release profile, we observed a biphasic release pattern of
entrapped curcumin from all sponge formulations used in our study (Fig. 3c). In
1:3 AC sponge, the burst release of curcumin (37.88 ± 1.8%) was observed in
first day which was followed by a slow and continuous release. Similarly, in 1:2
and 1:1 AC formulation, the release profile of curcumin was observed as 27.99 ±
2.9 and 29.7 ± 1.9% respectively in the first day followed by a slow and sustained
release for a prolong time period of 10 days of our observation. The observed
initial burst release might be due to the dissociation of surface absorbed drugs
present in the polymeric matrix. Subsequently, sustained release activity of the
drugs was due to the slow release of drugs entrapped inside the polymer matrix.
Wound Healing Test
After observing the in vitro release profile of curcumin from different formulation
of AC sponges, we found 1:2 and 1:1 AC sponge formulation showed almost
similar sustained release profile. However, 1:2 AC sponge formulations was
chosen as suitable formulation for our wound healing experiment, because of its
larger pore size and more water uptake ability compared to 1:1 formulation. This

loose fabric structure or porosity could give proper ventilation to ensure no
oxygen deficiency over the wound [20]. An ideal dressing sponge must achieve
certain characteristics like good biodegradability, biocompatibility, slow sustained
release of entrapped drug for longer time and moreover not to be associated with
incidental adverse effects during healing process. In order to justify our
formulated sponge's persuasive healing efficacy, in vivo healing studies were
conducted with 1:2 AC sponge with or without curcumin. For control, the wound
was covered with cotton gauze. The wound healing observation showed that on
the 4th postoperative day the cotton gauze adhered to wound surface and
removal of it resulted in the loss of tissue and oozing of blood at the wound
surface indicating tissues are under inflammation phase. However, AC sponge
found to adhere at the wound surface and absorbed the bleed and exudation at
the wound site. It suggests that the sponge containing alginate fiber absorbs the
wound exudates to form a hydrogel protection layer that holds the moisture
around the wound, on other hand chitosan enhances the infiltration of
inflammatory cell and consequently accelerating wound cleaning. In this view,
our observation also showed more healing of wound dressed with AC sponge
compared to control. During dressing while removing the sponge from wound
area, we have observed little bleeding and inflammation in void treated wound. In
contrast, no sign of inflammation and oozing of blood with thicken underlying
granulation tissue was marked in case of curcumin sponge treated wound,
suggesting wound tissues are quickly preceded from inflammatory stage to
proliferating stage. So, another prospective characteristic of using the AC sponge
was its hydrogel layer which can reduces the frequency of dressing change (as it
is biodegradable, biocompatible and absorbable) by holding the moisture around
the wound. Further, the reduction in wound defect area was calculated by
observing the wound area at various time intervals of our wound healing study.

From Fig 4, the significant difference of wound closure was clearly marked in
between the control and AC sponge treated groups on 4th postoperative day.
Conversely, we have not marked any significant difference of wound closure in
void and curcumin treated sponge on the same day of our observation,
suggesting irrespective of curcumin content our formulated AC sponge is a good
absorbent and suitable substrate for better wound healing. The photograph
further demonstrated curcumin sponge treated wound showed no sign of
inflammation compared to control and void sponge treated wound, suggesting its
early recovery from inflammation phase. This observation could be due to
constant and profound release of anti inflammatory and anti infective drug
curcumin from curcumin loaded AC sponge at wounded site. Similarly, on 8th day
post wounding, it was observed that with time curcumin sponge-treated wounds
showed more healing response compared to void sponge and cotton gauze-
treated wounds. While measuring the wound size we found the wound area of
curcumin loaded AC sponge is almost half and one third of the void and cotton
gauze treated wound area respectively (Fig.5). On the 10th postoperative day we
observed the control, void sponge and curcumin sponge treated wounds
contracted 68%, 80% and 94% respectively. It suggests though AC sponge is a
good substrate showing better healing but curcumins anti oxidant and anti
inflammatory properties accelerate the healing ability more profoundly with time.
Thus, the results demonstrated curcumin loaded AC sponge may be useful as a
therapeutic approach for better wound healing in near future.
The present study reveals that the mechanical release, water uptake,
degradation and morphological properties of AC sponge are highly dependent on
composition. The successful encapsulation of curcumin within AC sponge
brought about a new avenue to improve the bioavailability of curcumin and can
make the drug amenable for topical application in wound healing. Most

importantly, the observed comprehensible results justified the curcumin loaded
AC sponge was comparatively more effective than void AC sponge for wound
healing therapeutic approach with time due to sustained drug retention and
enhanced anti inflammatory effect.

WE CLAIM:
1. A process for preparing curcumin encapsulated chitosan alginate sponge
comprising the steps of:
incorporating curcumin in a fluid phase of oleic acid;
subjecting the mixture to a step of emulsification with chitosan solution by
homogenization;
emulsifying the resultant solution with alginate solution by homogenization;
lyophilizing the final emulsion by freeze drying to produce curcumin loaded AC
sponge.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said alginate solution (0.5%) is
prepared by dissolving sodium alginate powder in deionized water at room
temperature.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said chitosan solution (0.5%)
was prepared by dissolving chitosan powder in 20 ml of deionized water
containing acetic acid at room temperature.
4. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the curcumin-oleic acid mixture
was emulsified with chitosan for 2 minute.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the above solution was
homogenized with alginate solution for 3 minutes.
6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of lyophilization is
preferred for 3 days (-80°C & <10 µm mercury pressure).
7. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alginate to chitosan ratio was
selected from 1:1, 1:2 & 1:3.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the preferred ratio of alginate to
chitosan is 1:2.
9.The dressing sponge composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
hydrophobic agent curcumin bind to the hydrophobic core of oleic acid.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the composition is applied to the
wounded skin to reinforce the skin for open wound repair.
11. A method for augmenting open wound repair, wherein the composed wound
dressing sponge comprising curcumin is suitable for topical application.

A process for preparing curcumin encapsulated chitosan alginate sponge
comprising the steps of: incorporating curcumin in a fluid phase of oleic acid;
subjecting the mixture to a step of emulsification with chitosan solution by
homogenization; emulsifying the resultant solution with alginate solution by
homogenization; lyophilizing the final emulsion by freeze drying to produce
curcumin loaded AC sponge.