Abstract:
Purpose: The usage of herbal-based antibacterial sanitizers is increasing, and they
have considerably shown fewer side-effects than sanitizers with synthetic compounds. In the
present study, essential oils obtained from cinnamon and lime were used to formulate hand
sanitizer gels, and their efficacy was evaluated. Method: Three different hand sanitizer gel
formulations were prepared using cinnamon oil (Formulation A), lime oil (Formulation B) and a
mixture of cinnamon and lime oil (Formulation C). Carbopol 940 was used as the gelling agent.
Tests for organoleptic, physicochemical characteristics and stability were conducted on the
prepared formulations. The antibacterial activity of the prepared formulations was evaluated
using the agar diffusion method. All three formulations were compared with a commercial liquid
hand wash product for their in vitro antibacterial activity. Three-way ANOVA with Tukey's
honestly significant difference test was used to compare the antibacterial activity of the hand
sanitizer gel formulations. Stability of the three hand sanitizer formulations were assessed.
Results: Considerable differences in the pH and viscosity were not observed between the
prepared hand sanitizer gel formulations. However, considerable changes in the spreadability
were observed between the prepared hand sanitizer gel formulations. A statistically significant
difference in antibacterial activity was observed among the three hand sanitizer gels and the
commercial hand wash (p<0.05). Formulation C showed the highest antibacterial activity among
the prepared hand sanitizer formulations. Based on the stability studies, Formulation A was
found to be the most stable. Conclusion: Hand sanitizer gel containing a mixture of cinnamon
and lime oils showed the highest antibacterial activity among prepared formulations. However,
the most stable formulation was the hand sanitizer gel containing cinnamon oil.
