Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF ANTI-MICROBIAL HERBAL GEL OF CURCUMIN AND NYCTANTHES ABOR TRITIS LEAVES EXTRACT

P. Aparna*, N. Gayathri Aparna, A. Krishna Kumari, K. Snigdha and M. Pravalika

ABSTRACT

Topical agents are widely used to treat skin conditions. As the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and controversy regarding the use of topical antiseptics persist, man turned to his prehistory and found literally thousands of phytochemicals, which inhibit different types of microorganisms. The specific aim of the project is to prepare and evaluate antimicrobial herbal gel. The first step was the selection of plant parts according to long history of use, references in Ayurvedic literature, 2 plants were identified[cur cumin(Curcuma longa Linn.), leaves extracts of Nyctanthes abor tritis. The plants were collected randomly from - Telangana, India, under the guidance of an expert from Indian herbs. Plant materials were dried in the dark at room temperature .Ethanol is used as solvent for extraction by maceration procedure. These extracts were subjected to antimicrobial activity by agar diffusion method to detect potential antimicrobial activity against P.aeruginosa, E. coli and Bacillus substilus, some common human skin infecting pathogens. The result showed that curcumin and ethanolic extracts of Nyctanthes abor tritis leaves posses strong in-vitro antibacterial activity. Each formulation were characterized in terms of viscosity, pH, extrudability, spreadability, homogenicity, antimicrobial activity that can be compared with that of marketed formulation.

Keywords: Herbal gel, curcumin, Nyctanthes abor -tritis.