Bacterial cellulose (BC) has grown an increasing trend for applications in biomedical field due to its conformability, high water absorption capacity and biocompatibility. Nata de coco is a local food product with the main component of BC. Chitosan (Ch) is a polysaccharide with intrinsic antibacterial property considered for biomedical solicitations. For this work, BC and BC-Ch membranes was formed from nata de coco. The produced BC membrane was subjected to ex-situ modifications by immersing them in 1% chitosan solution. The purity of the BC membrane produced and the incorporation of chitosan in the BC-Ch composite was confirmed through infrared spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized to evaluate the surface morphology of the membranes. The SEM pictures showed that the BC-Ch composite owned a solider fibril network compared to the BC membrane. Mechanical properties of BC and BC-Ch membranes exhibited no significant variation. The BC-Ch composite membrane exhibited superior water holding capacity and water retention ratio compared to the BC membrane. The antibacterial tests revealed that the introduction of chitosan in the membrane imparted antimicrobial properties to the composite membrane. The produced BC-Ch membrane from nata de coco can be contemplated for antimicrobial wound dressing material.
