FORMULATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF A POLYHERBAL FORMULATION FOR TREATMENT OF PHOTOSENSITIVE SKIN DISORDERS

Raheena K. A.*, Safa Muhammed P. and Vivek M.

ABSTRACT

Photosensitive skin disorders refer to those diseases that are caused as a result of excessive exposure to solar radiations, especially ultraviolet radiations. Natural substances extracted from plants have recently been considered as potential sunscreen resources because of their ultraviolet ray absorption in the UVA region and their antioxidant activity. Medicinal plants, which have flavonoids and other phenolics as the most important components are potential candidates for formulating into topical sunscreen preparations .The present study involves the formulation of a polyherbal suncream with herbal active ingredients and its evaluation studies. The poly herbs selected for the study were the alcoholic extracts of: Camellia sinensis L (Tea) , Vitis vinefera (Grapes) and Sylibum marianum (Milk thistle) with different concentration of extracts and excipients. The prepared formulations were evaluated for pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug release, antioxidant activity and sun protection factor. The formulation F4 can be used as a good photo protective agent due to its high antioxidant activity and drug content, Also its sun protection factor is high, indicating that F4 can be a good candidate for preventing UV radiation induced photosensitive skin disorders.

Keywords: Polyherbal, Sunscreen, Sun Protection Factor , Camellia sinensis L, Vitis vinefera, Sylibum marianum.