DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF SUNSCREEN CREAM USING PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA EXTRACT AS ACTIVE HERBAL COMPONENT, FOLLOWED BY DETERMINATION OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

The present study indicates that the development of sunscreen by incorporating natural ingredients obtained from Phyllanthus emblica results in overcoming the side effects of chemically synthetic formulations. The Indian gooseberry, Phyllanthus emblica Linn, is a deciduous tree of the Euphorbiaceae family. The fruit of P. emblica is most widely used herbal drugs in Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine. Its chemical constituents include tannin (emblicanin A and B), phenol (gallic acid, ellagic acid), vitamins (ascorbic acid, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin), flavonoids (rutin, quercetin, kaempferol), and alkaloids (phyllantin, phyllembein), among others. Major formulations of Phyllanthus emblica, such as powder, oils, and candy, containing quercetin and emblicanin constituents, show biological potentials including antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties, among others. Sunscreens were the best alternatives to prevent sunburns or to protect the skin from the damaging effects of UV rays. The herbal ingredients in the formulation were safe to use as they contain natural substances having fewer side effects, are renewable sources, are under the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) category, and are less expensive. In the present study, the Phyllanthus emblica based herbal sunscreen cream is prepared and evaluated by using different parameters such as preliminary phytochemical screening, organoleptic properties and UV-visible spectrophotometric evaluation. Different herbal ingredients, such as Phyllanthus emblica extract, olive oil, coconut oil, rose oil, vitamin E, etc., were used to formulate the sunscreen cream. The result of this study shows that the total phenolic content present in Phyllanthus emblica was found to be 1.77 µg/ml (µg of gallic acid/mg of extract), and the flavonoid content was found to be 1.96 µg/ml (µg of quercetin/mg of extract). The preliminary phytochemical screening and organoleptic properties of the herbal sunscreen cream were found to be very significant. The sun protection factor (SPF) of the formulation was found to be 11.45, and shows a good photo-protecting product.