Use of bacuri butter (Platonia Insignis Mart.) and onion biofilm (Allium Cepa L.), washed and unwashed, in wound healing in equines

Introduction: Wounds are frequent in horses. The “bacuri butter” is widely used as a healing agent. The onion has been used in the production of bioplastics through the hydrothermal treatment of its pulp. The objective of this study was to search for treatments that enable proper healing while causing minimal harm to the environment. This study was conducted at the University of Brasília/Brazil and approved by CEUAUnB, n° 23106.064222/2021-19, to evaluate the macroscopic and histopathological aspects of skin healing by second intention of wounds in 6 horses.

Materials And Methods: Wounds surgically induced were topically treated with bacuri butter (GMB), washed onion biofilm (GBCL), unwashed onion biofilm (GBCNL), and ringer lactate (GC). Four wounds were made on each side of the lumbar region, one side for macroscopic evaluation with photos and measurement of the area and contraction rate and the other side for histopathological evaluation. The right side was used for clinical evaluation of the wound in three horses and the left side for microscopic evaluation, and in the other three, the opposite procedure was performed. The lesions were treated daily, and clinical and histopathological evaluations were performed on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28.

Results: The GMB had a smaller wound area and a higher percentage of contraction on days 21 and 28. At 28 days the average contraction rate was 95.95%, 93.93%, 86.54% and 92.61% for GMB, GC, GBCL and GBCNL respectively.

Discussion/Conclusions: Clinical and histopathological analysis revealed the potential use of biopolymers as occlusive dressings for wounds, with beneficial characteristics for healing, providing a barrier against bacterial invasion. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the groups, clinical evaluations showed a greater healing and anti-inflammatory effect in the GMB, making safe, effective, and low-cost-effective option, favoring the re-epithelialization of the wounds.

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