FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL PRODUCT BASED ANTIMICROBIAL AND COSMETICS FROM SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANT IN TANZANIA

This study aimed to utilize the phytoconstituents from medicinal plants; Carissa spinarum to generate herbal based antimicrobial and cosmetics to reduce the synthetic ingredients by incorporation of natural extracts whose functionality is comparable with their synthetic ingredients and compare its effectiveness with marketed antimicrobial and cosmetics products. The method used was the Soxhlet extraction to generate phytoconstituents, qualitative analysis of phytoconstituents for the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins and flavonoids, antimicrobial activity test by using disc diffusion sensitivity test. Three investigated herbal based shampoo formulations (F1, F2, and F3) were prepared by varying composition of Carrisa spinarum extracts and sodium laureth sulfate as a surfactant with a fixed amount of glycerine, EDTA and distilled water. F0 was containing all ingredients except Carissa spinarum extracts and was used as a negative control. Evaluation of physicochemical test including pH, solid content, wetting ability, foam volume and stability, and antimicrobial properties was conducted and compared to marketed shampoo. The result indicated that F2 and F3 produced clear shampoo and their averaged pH was in the range of 5.59-6.65, more overproduced stable foam, good cleaning and wetting effects. Antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus measured as a zone of inhibition of formulations; F0, F1, F2, F3 and marketed product each was conducted in triplicate and averaged as 22.4mm, 6.2mm, 9.4mm, 14.5mm, respectively. The formulations produced in this study can further be developed in the generation of good health care products.