The present study aims toward the preparation of pH-sensitive hydrogel films based on basil seed mucilage (OBM) biopolymer as a novel drug delivery system for wound dressing. Various contents of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), glutaraldehyde (GA) as cross-linker, and glycerol as a plasticizer were incorporated to have an optimal combination of softness and resilience. OBM hydrogel films characterized by FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), morphological analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and their physical properties were discussed on the reportage of the results of several tests: rheology, mechanical tests (stress at maximum load and Young's modulus), O 2 permeability and water vapor permeability, gel fraction, water retention capacity and swelling degree measurements. The best results for this work were Mu-Gly2, which has the acceptable swelling degree and gel fraction leading to functional water retention capacity, as well as the selected formulations, which were non-toxic and biocompatible according to the result of cytotoxicity test. The optimized formulations of films were used for loading of Tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) as a model drug, and the release studies showed better results at pH = 8.5 and pH = 7.4 rather than acidic pH. Unlabelled Image • Chemically crosslinked hydrogel film was prepared based on basil seed mucilage as a novel wound dressing material. • The functionality of OBM hydrogel film as a drug delivery system was evaluated. • Physical properties of OBM hydrogel such as rheology, mechanical tests, O 2 permeability, water vapor permeation rate, gel fraction, water retention capacity and swelling degree were calculated. • Tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) was used as a model drug to evaluate the loading capacity. • The OBM hydrogel film was subjected to in vitro cytotoxicity tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]