APPLICATION OF SWEET-POTATO FIBER TO SKIN WOUND IN RAT

Tn order to introduce a suitable drug mixing base or covering for burn s or decubital wounds, the usefulness of fiber extracted from the swee t potato was investigated, The healing effect of the fiber was evaluat ed by examining the extent of reduction in the size of wounds and chan ges in the quality of wounds in rats, In contrast to the control, the use of the fiber alone as a wound covering material reduced wounded ar eas by 21.0% at postoperative day 9, 19.5% at day 11, and 18.7% at day 13, and resulted in an obvious increase in the rats' weight. The numb er of days required for healing in all treated rats,vas 19 for the fib er groups and over 21 d for the control. bl vitro, the fiber indicated excellent absorptive ability for serum and good adhesive ability for a number of proteins. This result suggested that the fiber has favorab le properties for healing wounds which contain large amounts of exudat e. Our macroscopic findings also indicated that the fiber protected wo unds from dryness. These results suggested that sweet potato fiber cou ld be use as a covering material in combination with drugs in skin wou nd therapy.