Paper Title
Preparation and Characterization of Banana Flour-Alginate Hydrogel Incorporated with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract
Banana flour-alginate hydrogel incorporated with zinc oxide nanoparticles (hydrogel-ZnONPs) was developed in order to obtain an antimicrobial gel. Composite hydrogel beads were prepared by gelation technique using blends two natural hydrophilic polymer, 2% banana flour and 2% sodium alginate. The hydrogel-ZnONPs was characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and percentage of ZnONPs in hydrogel was determined by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX). The swelling ratio and gel fraction (%) of hydrogel bead were 2230% and 94%, respectively. Additionally, the hydrogel-ZnONPs exhibited strong antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium). Keywords - Alginate, Banana Flour, Natural Hydrogel, Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles