Formulation of Anti-Acne Gel Containing Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) and Aloe barbadensis (L.) Extracts and Evaluating The Impact of High-Pressure and Microwave Processing

Acne is one of the most prevailing skin disorders caused by bacteria, dead skin cells, and oil clogging of hair follicles. In this study, a polyherbal anti-acne gel containing C. aurantifolia and A. barbadensis extracts was developed as a cosmeceutical. Major bioactive fractions in the plant extracts were evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis. Moreover, C. aurantifolia depicted higher total phenolic, flavonoids, tannins, and ascorbic acid than A. barbadensis extract. The anti-acne gel was prepared by adding 1% of both plant extracts and evaluated for organoleptic properties (color, odor, homogeneity, consistency, washability), spreadability, viscosity, extrudability, pH, and drug contents and compared with a commercial herbal formulation (NuTeen®). The developed gels depicted greater inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus than the commercial formulation with a growth inhibition diameter of 2.40 mm. In-vitro permeation of plant extracts from a gel into phosphate buffer was found at 27.4% after 2.5 hr, and the release behavior was best explained by the Higuchi model (R2=0.97). Finally, for the possible replacement of paraben (synthetic preservative) from the gel, high-pressure processing (600 MPa, 120 s), and microwave pasteurization (700 W, 80 s) were adopted and the stability of gels was evaluated after 4 weeks, and found comparable to their paraben-containing normal counterpart.