Enhancing In Situ Modification Efficiency and Properties of Bacterial Cellulose through Sealed Fermentation for the Preparation of Antibacterial and Antioxidant Wound Dressings

• A novel sealed in situ fermentation strategy increased the baicalein loading rate. • This strategy addressed the issues of easy sedimentation of baicalein. • BC-baicalein sealed fermentation membrane (BC-BP) showed enhanced antioxidant activity. • BC-BP demonstrated improved antibacterial and wound-healing promotion ability. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a potential wound dressing but lacks antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, so in situ modification is required. However, the conventional aerobic Komagataeibacter xylinus for BC production only grows at air-liquid interface with long cycles, which may cause degradation, inactivation, or sedimentation of water-insoluble modifiers, leading to low in-situ modification efficiency. Herein, a novel sealed fermentation in-situ modification strategy was developed using Kosakonia oryzaendophytica FY-07, which enables deep fermentation and gas production. Water-insoluble baicalein was uniformly suspended by xanthan gum. Then, fermentation-generated gas boosted internal pressure, enhanced modifier penetration and formed compact products. This strategy increased baicalein loading capacity by 1.21-fold, achieving a value of 431.6 ± 5.6 mg/g. The resulting BC-baicalein sealed fermentation composite membrane (BC-BP) showed improved antibacterial, antioxidant and mechanical properties (2.5-fold higher tensile strength), and 15% higher mouse wound closure rate on day 12. These results verified the strategy’s superiority, which is applicable to both soluble and insoluble modifiers, improving modification efficiency and expanding BC applications.