Hand sanitizer formulation using orange peel essential oil

Abstract

Hand sanitizer is mainly produced using 60% of alcohol as an active substance. Therefore, many hand sanitizers’ products are highly dominant with the alcohol smell. This research was aimed to formulate a sweet-scented hand sanitizer using a combination of orange essential oil as the addition of fragrant substance. A randomized block design (RBD) method was used, consists of one factor of essential oils proportion (i.e. baby orange (BO): sweet orange (SO)) in the formulation of hand sanitizer (P) with five levels. All treatment combination was carried out in five replicates. Physical properties (i.e. pH, density, and viscosity) and microbiological tests (i.e. total plate count and area of bacterial inhibition) were performed, as well as sensory tests to determine consumer response. The best results of the physical properties and the microbiological test were obtained from A2 treatment with proportion of BO: SO (0.75: 0.25), with the average of bacterial inhibition area of 6.77mm more efficient than that of the control. The sweet scene of the hand sanitizer product was clearly shown, as much as 77% of respondents favoured its aroma. The current study clearly shows that orange peels were potential as the additional ingredients in giving the sweet smell to the hand sanitizer.