Scientists at the University of Chicago have developed a hydrogel from malva nuts, an ingredient traditionally used in herbal tea. This innovation has potential applications in various biomedical fields, including wound care and ECG readings. The research, published on February 17 in the journal Matter, explores the unique properties of malva nuts, which are known to swell significantly when soaked in water.
Changxu Sun, a PhD student at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and first author of the study, recognized the potential of these nuts beyond their traditional use as a sore throat remedy in Chinese medicine. "Changxu looked at herbal tea and saw a world of sustainable biomedical applications ready to be built," said Sun’s advisor, Professor Bozhi Tian from the University of Chicago Chemistry Department.
Malva nuts, referred to as Pangdahai in traditional Chinese medicine, transform into a gelatinous mass when soaked in hot water. Sun explained that once hydrated, they expand considerably both in volume and weight. Typically discarded after use in tea, Sun and Tian identified this gelatinous byproduct as a natural hydrogel with significant medical potential.
Hydrogels are already utilized in healthcare for their compatibility with human tissue. They play roles in wound care, drug delivery systems, implantable bioelectronics like pacemakers, tissue repair, and more. However, converting malva nuts into viable medical devices involves several steps: crushing the nuts to separate soft hydrocolloids from hard lignins and freeze-drying them to create pure malva nut polysaccharide scaffolds.
The research team tested their hydrogel across different medical applications. "We found it demonstrated superior performance and qualities compared to commercial ECG patches," Sun noted. The study also highlighted the unexplored properties of natural plants for creating valuable healthcare solutions.
Sun expressed hope that this naturally derived hydrogel could offer cost-effective medical resources globally but especially benefit Southeast Asian countries where malva trees grow abundantly. "They’re low-income countries," he said. "Their healthcare systems are always limited by this lack of resources."
The study titled “Sustainable Conversion of Husk into Viscoelastic Hydrogels for Value-Added Biomedical Applications” was funded by the U.S. Army Research Office and National Institutes of Health.