INULIN NANOFIBERS
Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) / Inulin composite nanofibers (CNFs) are provided using electrospinning technique and tested for their prebiotic and antibacterial activities. The PVA/Inulin electrospun CNFs were tested for prebiotic activity with Lactobacillus sp. and for antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A number of electrospinning parameters such as solution concentration, PVA: Inulin mixing ratio, solution flow rate and applied voltage were carefully varied and the best PVA/ Inulin electrospun CNFs (bead free) were selected for prebiotic and antibacterial tests. The concentration of the composite solution varied between 14-20%, the flow rate ranged between 0.005-0.5 mL/min and the applied voltage used ranged between 15-20Kv. The structural properties and morphology of the PVA/Inulin electrospun CNFs were fully characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).