Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0412
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2167-0412
+44 1300 500008
Erna C Arollado
University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Med Aromat Plants
Preservatives are substances added to food and pharmaceutical products to extend their shelf-life. Synthetic compounds have been widely used for such applications. However, reports demonstrated adverse effects of synthetic preservative consumption. Thus, there is a need to develop safe and cheap preservatives to avoid undesirable effects. This study aims to investigate the preservative efficacy of five plants namely Psidium guajava, Premna odorata, Mimosa pudica, Allium sativum and Zingiber officinale, as an alternative for synthetic preservatives. Ethanolic extracts of these plants were subjected to phytochemical screening which verified the presence of sapogenins and glycosides in all plant extracts. AAS analysis confirmed that the extracts are safe, as shown by the lead and cadmium contents within the acceptable dietary intake (<0.3 mg/kg and 0.010 mg/kg, respectively). Among the five plants, P. guajava and P. odorata exhibited the highest antioxidant activity in diphenyl picryl hydrazyl assay at concentrations between 1.00ΓΆΒ?Β?5.00 mg/ mL and below 0.50 mg/mL, respectively. Physicochemical stability of the extracts as pre-formulated ointment was observed up to 45 days at different storage conditions, with results comparable to common synthetic preservatives, methyl and propyl paraben. The preservative challenge test performed against fungi and bacteria revealed that P. guajava has the highest preservative capability among the pre-formulated ointments. It is concluded that P. guajava exhibited the highest antioxidant and antibacterial properties, suggesting its potential use as preservative in ointment formulation.
Email: ernaarollado@yahoo.com