Abstract

FORMULATION AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF A POLYHERBAL TOPICAL CREAM CONTAINING ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF EUPHORBIA HIRTA AND SENNA ALATA AGAINST ASPERGILLUS NIGER AND FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM

*S. Khalidha Banu, S. Manju, Dr. Devika G. S., Srimeena R., Dhakshinamoorthy C., Dinesh B., Swetha R., Yogeshwaran P.

ABSTRACT

Background: Herbal topical preparations are being investigated as potential sources of antifungal agents for superficial fungal infections. Euphorbia hirta and Senna alata have documented ethnomedicinal and experimental relevance to antifungal research. Objective: To formulate and evaluate a topical cream containing ethanolic extracts of E. hirta and S. alata and to assess its physicochemical performance, in vitro diffusion and antifungal activity. Methods: Leaves of both plants were separately extracted with ethanol by maceration. Three 25-g cream formulations (F1–F3) were prepared by varying extract and excipient quantities. The formulations were assessed for appearance, homogeneity, pH, spreadability, viscosity, washability, skin feel, extract-content estimation and stability. In vitro diffusion was monitored for 6 h. The selected formulation was tested by agar-well diffusion against Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum, with fluconazole as the positive control and DMSO as the negative control. Results: The formulations were described as smooth andhomogeneous without visible lumps or phase separation. F1, F2 and F3 showed cumulative release values of 91%, 97% and 94%, respectively, at 6 h; F2 was therefore selected for antifungal testing. The reported UV-spectrophotometric extract-content value was 96.4%. F2 produced inhibition zones of 13 and 29 mm at 10 mg and 17 and 32 mm at 20 mg against A. niger and F. oxysporum, respectively. Conclusion: The polyherbal cream demonstrated acceptable preliminary physical characteristics, high reported extract incorporation and measurable concentration-dependent in vitro antifungal activity, with greater inhibition against F. oxysporum. These findings support further formulation optimization and biological evaluation.

Keywords: Euphorbia hirta; Senna alata; polyherbal cream; topical formulation; antifungal activity; Aspergillus niger; Fusarium oxysporum; in vitro diffusion.