Wound healing and skin tightening properties of polyherbal cream

Centella asiatica, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Areca catechu, Curcuma longa and Emblica officinalis are herbal plants that were reported to have significant activity in skin tightening and wound healing. All five herbal extracts are incorporated into a cream base. Its physicochemical properties were assessed including rheology, cream texture and rate of separation (stability). The biological activities of the herbal extracts were also assessed for antioxidant and antibacterial activities. In addition, wound healing activity of the polyherbal cream was also assessed. Rheology profile showed that all formulations were stable due to higher G' (storage modulus) as compared to G" (loss modulus). All creams had good spreadability characteristic and were stable after tested on the accelerated stability for three month. Meanwhile, the antioxidant activity of all extracts was assessed by using the DPPH assay showing that all herbal extracts exhibited antioxidant activity starting from A. catechu > C. longa > G. glabra > E. officinalis > C. asiatica in decreasing sequence. The antibacterial analysis revealed that the extract of E. officinalis and the extracts of mixed herbs exhibited the highest antibacterial activity towards both S. aureus and E. coli. Meanwhile, C. asiatica and G. glabra exhibited intermediate antibacterial activity towards both bacteria. Other than that, C. longa and A. catechu exhibited selective inhibition against S. aureus only. Both antioxidant and antibacterial activities of herbal extracts help in accelerating wound healing and skin tightening process. For the wound healing and skin tightening effects, the rat group treated with polyherbal cream portrayed the highest and significant tensile strength (p < 0.05) as compared to other groups - which were treated with the C. asiatica cream, chlorhexidine cream and blank cream. On the basis of this experiment and all analyses conducted, it can be concluded that the polyherbal cream formulation has potential in wound healing and skin tightening as indicated by the increase in its tensile strength.