Evaluation and formulation of antiseptic herbal hand wipes

Abstract

Background Wet wipes have been commercially used for various purposes, to clean hard surfaces such as floors or kitchen surfaces including personal cleansing. Wet wipes were impregnated with a synthetic lotion for cleaning the skin, these wipes are hygienic because they are disposable and are normally discarded after their first use. Commercially available antiseptic Wet wipes have strong antimicrobial agents Triclosan and other chemicals. The present objective is to alternate the strong antimicrobial agents by using Herbal formulation in Wet wipes. With Aloe barbadensis miller gel and essential oils based antimicrobial formulation was used to prepare antiseptic wet wipes. Methods Antimicrobial (Agar well diffusion method), antioxidant (DPPH assay), toxicity studies (using Zebra fish embryo) were carried out in this study. Results The 0.5-2µg/ml of essential oil showed promising antimicrobial activity against standard routine bacterial pathogens, and also for Mycobacterium smegmatis wild strains. 100µg/ml of Tea tree oil and cinnamon oil were toxic to zebrafish embryo. However, sub-lethal doses of oils is (100 μg/mL) against Zebrafish embryo. Conclusion Thus, an eco-friendly, safe, low-cost herbal hand wipes are formulated for human use for prevention and protection against microbial infection and for maintaining personal hygiene.