Formulation and Characterization of Herbal Cleansing Gel from Turmeric Extract Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers

The herbal cleansing gel from turmeric extract is a natural skin care product with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Despite its advantages, turmeric extract has a higher metabolism, a low absorption rate, stability, and solubility. Encapsulation of turmeric extract had been developed to increase the bioavailability of turmeric extract for topical drug delivery. Hence, turmeric extract is encapsulated via nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to produce turmeric extract-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (T-NLCs). This project highlights the formulation and characterization of an herbal cleansing gel from encapsulated turmeric extract. To produce T-NLCs, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) as liquid lipid and glycerol monostearate (GMS) as solid lipid generated an imperfect matrix incorporating turmeric extract. The T-NLCs were then characterized in terms of particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and stability. The T-NLCs exhibited particle size 129.407 ± 1.278 nm, polydispersity index 15.067 ± 2.105%, zeta potential -44.7 ± 1.8 mV, encapsulation efficiency 98.04 ± 9.19 % and remained stable over 30 days. The herbal cleansing gel was formulated with T-NLCs and characterized in term sensory test. The formulation is believed to improve the turmeric extract's phytochemical stability, biocompatibility, skin permeability, and dermo-cosmetic efficiency.  In conclusion, developing turmeric in an innovative encapsulated formulation has aided in developing herbal-based cosmetic products for a wide range of skin care systems.