Abstract

FORMULATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ASSAY OF RED FRUIT (PANDANUS CONOIDEUS LAM.) EXTRACT AND OIL AS ANTIBACTERIAL HAND SOAP

Agnes Anania Triavika Sahamastuti*, Pietradewi Hartrianti and Leonny Yulita Hartiadi

ABSTRACT

Diarrhea is one of the major causes of death in children, especially in developing country. Insufficient sanitation, such as unwashed hand before eating, is considered as a big causative factor. Hence, the use of antibacterial hand soap is recommended. Antimicrobial activity of red fruit (Pandanus conoideus Lam), a native plant from Papua, has been recently demonstrated. The aim of this research is to optimize a hand soap formulation and evaluate its antimicrobial activity. Red fruits from Papua were macerated with 96% ethanol. The ethanol extract was evaporated using rotary evaporator, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with a mixture of n-hexane and water (1:1) to obtain n-hexane fraction. Meanwhile, crude red fruit oil was obtained separately. Hand soaps were prepared by incorporating either n-hexane fraction or crude red fruit oil in carbopol-based emulsion. Antimicrobial activity of crude red fruit oil and n-hexane fraction formulas were assessed on volunteers by counting the number of microbe colonies before and after hands washing. Our results showed that hand soap of crude red fruit oil and n-hexane fraction met the evaluation criteria. While crude red fruit oil hand soap exhibited similar antimicrobial activity compared to commercially available antibacterial hand soap, n-hexane fraction hand soap showed slightly lower antimicrobial activity. This research demonstrated that red fruit oil exhibited potential to be utilized as alternative natural antibacterial substance, specifically in hand soap formulation. Therefore, this study also showed the prospect of increasing economic value of red fruits.

Keywords: Red fruit, hand soap, antimicrobial, sanitation.