FORMULATION, EVALUATION AND IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL SCREENING OF HERBAL GEL CONTAINING MANILKARA HEXANDRA (ROXB.) DUBARD LEAF EXTRACT

Manilkara hexandra (Roxb.) [Synonym: Mimusops hexandra] belonging to family Sapotaceae is revealed to be endowed with antibacterial activity. Leaves, fruits, roots and barks of the plant are renowned for their medicinal values. Herbal gels have prevalence over conventional gels in piling up the therapeutic efficiency and narrowing down the side effects. The design of present study is to formulate and evaluate the herbal gel containing methanolic and hydro alcoholic leaf extract of Manilkara hexandra using varying concentration of carbopol 934 (1%, 1.25% and 1.5%). The physicochemical criterion of formulations like color, homogeneity, pH, viscosity, spreadability and drug content were determined. Diffusion studies were carried through Franz diffusion cell. Stability studies were accomplished as per ICH Guidelines for duration of 3 months. The result proffer that formulation with 1% gelling agent and 2.5% extract elicited better stability and henceforth optimized. Further optimized formulation was tested in vivo, for their skin irritability over a span of 7 days. The denouement claimed no skin irritation to the animals. The optimized gel was tested for antibacterial activity against different strains of bacteria such as Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris. The results unveil good antibacterial potential of the gel.