Musa acuminata nanoemulgel: formulation, in vitro kinetics and antimicrobial studies

Abstract

The study was intended to formulate nanoemulgel from the leaf extract of Musa acuminata. Ethanol and chloroform were used as solvents in the ratio of 1:8 (%w/v). DL-alpha-tocopherol, characterised by gas chromatography mass spectrometry, was identified to be the major component with potential biological activities. Based on a pseudo-ternary plot, the 1:1 S mix (surfactant:co-surfactant) ratio was optimised as it posed maximum regions of emulsion. The prepared nanoemulgel was evaluated for physical appearance, pH, spreadability and swelling index. The appearance was pale yellowish-white, translucent within a pH range of 5–5.8. Antimicrobial studies were performed against dandruff-causing microbes (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Malassezia furfur). In vitro studies were carried out for optimised formulations of EG2, EG4, CG2 and CG3. The drug release of 94.28% after 12 h with the Higuchi plot of R 2 value as 0.99 was observed for EG2. The kinetically optimised formulation, EG2, was found to have a good spreadability of 12.2 (g cm)/s and a swelling index of 64%.