Formulation of Antioxidant Enriched Topical Skin Care Cream from Sonneratia apetala Fruit Extract

Abstract

Photo aging is a common problem that occurs in our community due to ongoing exposure to ultraviolet rays. Recently much attention has been focused on reactive oxygen species and free radicals which lead to oxidative stress and ultimately contribute to photo ageing. The use of antioxidants is an effective approach to prevent symptoms related to photo-induced ageing of the skin. Widely used synthetic antioxidants are now under question due to their adverse effects. Therefore, in response to the growing consumers concern, search for antioxidants from natural sources have gained interest. Thus the present study aims to formulate and evaluate antioxidant skin care cream comprising the fruit extract of Sommeratia apetala for their free radical scavenging activity. S. apetala is the principal planting species in the massive mangrove plantations of Bangladesh and is extensively used as food and for traditional medicinal purpose in the tropical coastal areas. The solvents used for the fractionation were methanol and water. Between the fractions, methanolic extract showed the highest polyphenols (201.702 mgGAE/g extract), total antioxidant capacity (442.947 μM Fe(II)/g of dried extract) and lowest IC50 value in DPPH free radical scavenging assay. In addition, methanolic extract of S. apetala fruit demonstrated antimicrobial activity by inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus megaterium, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aurigonisa with MIC values 6.25, 6.25, 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml, respectively. Based on the higher antioxidant potential and polyphenols content three formulations (F1= formulation from 2.5% methanolic extract, F2= formulation from 2.5% aqueous extract, F3 (placebo) = formulation without extract) were prepared. The formulations were evaluated for pH, spreadability, rheological property, homogenecity, loss on drying, stability, MIC and microbial limit test. Both the formulations (F1 and F2) showed good pH, homogeneity, appearance, ease to remove, spreadability but only F1 could successfully limit microbial growth in microbial limit test. The present result indicates that methanolic extract of S. apetala fruit has a good potential for the cosmeceutical product development.