DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ANTI-MICROBIAL HERBAL GEL FORMULATION CONTAINING MAJORANA HORTENSIS AND CURCUMA LONGA EXTRACTS

In developing countries the gradual revival of use of medicinal plants is attributed to the safety of herbal medicines with minimal adverse effects as comparable to the synthetic drugs. The present study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of formulated gel containing chloroform extract of M.hortensis and ethanolic extract of C. longa. An optimized topical gel (carbopol- 934, as gelling agent) formulation in combination with the two herbal drugs was prepared in the 2:3 ratio and was evaluated. The extracts were prepared using standard procedures and physicochemical parameters of the formulated gel were determined. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity was done using agar well diffusion method for determination of zone of inhibition. The studies indicated that with the increase in the concentration of the extract there is increase in the zone of inhibition with both the test extracts. The present study investigated the anti-bacterial activity of chloroform extract of M.hortensis and ethanolic extract of C. longa against various bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, P.aeroginosa and Candida albicans at different concentrations. In the anti-bacterial activity, the zone of inhibition (ZOI) was highest for S.aureus and P.aeroginosa at 150 mg/ml with the chloroform extract of M.hortensis and similarly ethanolic extract of C. longa produced highest zone of inhibition for E. Coli and B.subtilis. In the anti-fungal activity, the two test extracts chloroform extract of M.hortensis and ethanolic extract of C. longa showed 19 mm and 20 mm at 150 mg/ml as comparable to the standard. From the results it can be concluded that the formulated gel exhibited a potent antimicrobial activity. Key Words: Anti-microbial, anti-fungal, zone of inhibition, herbal extracts, formulated gel.