Evaluation and antimicrobial activity of herbal nanoemulgel combination of n-butanol extracts of <i>Centella asiatica</i> and <i>Sapindus rarak</i> and seed oil of <i>Azadirachta indica</i>

Abstract

Gel spermicide containing the active ingredient nonoxynol-9 is one of the non-hormonal contraceptive products that is widely used, but the compound can cause vaginal infections, irritation, and ulceration. In this study, spermicidal herbal alternatives were made from the plants Centella asiatica, Sapindus rarak, and Azadirachta indica, formulated in a nanoemulgel delivery system. Nanoemulgel formulation was made from a combination of the n-butanol extracts of Centella asiatica and Sapindus rarak and Azadirachta indica seed oil using the Model Response Surface (MRS) method. Physicochemical characteristics showed that the particle size of the nanoemulgel ranges from 52.53 ± 1.17 nm to 234.57 ± 21.32 nm. The Zeta potential of nanoemulgel ranges from -9.36 ± 0.55 mV to 10.14 ± 0.20 mV. The dispersion of nanoemulgel has a range of 5.9–7.20 cm. The viscosity of the gel ranged from 19.377–19.444 mPas. The pH ranged from 4.89 ± 0.04 to 5.19 ± 0.01. Independent variable concentrations of Centella asiatica n-butanol extract, Sapindus rarak n-butanol extract, and Azadirachta indica seed oil has a p-value > 0.05. The study concluded that there were no significant effects of the extracts combination on particle size response, zeta potential, dispersion, viscosity, and pH of the nanoemulgels.