DEVELOPMENT OF TOPICAL GEL OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA FOR EFFECTIVE MICROBIAL TREATMENT USING MEDICINAL PLANTS

Traditional Medicine as the sum total of all knowledge and practices, whether explicable or not, used in diagnosis, prevention and elimination of physical, mental, or social imbalance and relying exclusively on practical experience and observation handed down from generation to generation Terminalia chebula Retzius (T. chebula Retz) is a medium to large-sized tree that belongs to the Combretaceae family and is widely distributed throughout Asia. It is an evergreen flowering tree, and leaves, fruits, seeds, and barks are widely used in conventional folk medicine. It is a plant with anti-bacterial, antifungal, anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV and anti-aging activitie. T. chebula is rich in bioactive compounds like tannins, flavonoids, sterols, amino acids, fructose, and resins. However, tannins like chebulinic acid, chebulagic acid, gallic acid, chebulic acid, corilagin, and ellagic acid may be responsible for the application. This study deals with development & evaluation of gel of Terminalia chebula. The fruits of plant was collected and extracted with distilled water. The gel was formulated and evaluated for all the parameters including antimicrobial activity. The result showed yields of 6.47% w/w of crude drug of Aqueous extract Terminalia chebula Fruits.  Phytochemical test showed the presence of various bioactive compounds such as Alkaloids, Carbohydrates, Flavonoids, Saponins and Phenols. The colour of gel was Green, Clogging was absent. It exhibited good homogeneity with smooth texture. The washibility was good but Extrudability was average. The Spreadability  was found to be 4 (gcm/sec) & pH recorded as 8.25. The gel showed sensitivity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. At 100mg/ml concentration the gel showed zone of inhibition of  12mm for both S. aureus & E.coli. Thus, results indicate that the formed topical gel of Terminalia chebula exhibits perfect gel characteristics along with antimicrobial effect.