Full Length ArticleFormulation, evaluation and comparison of theherbal shampoo with the commercial shampoos*Khaloud Al Badi, Shah A. Khan*Department of Pharmacy, Oman Medical College, Muscat, Omana r t ic l e i n f oArticle history:Received25 May2014Accepted 21 November2014Availableonline10 December 2014Keywords:ShampooHerbalMethylparabenPhysicochemical propertiesabstractThestudyaimedtoformulateapureherbal shampooandtoevaluateandcompareitsphysicochemical properties with the marketed synthetic and herbal shampoos. The herbalshampoowasformulatedbyaddingtheextractsof Acaciaconcinna, Sapindusmukorossi,Phyllanthus emblica, Ziziphus spina-christi and Citrus aurantifolia in different proportions to a10%aqueousgelatinsolution. Small amountofmethyl parabenwasaddedasapreser-vativeandpHwasadjustedwithcitricacid. Several testssuchasvisual inspection, pH,wetting time, % of solid contents, foam volume and stability, surface tension, detergency,dirtdispersionetc,wereperformedtodeterminethephysicochemicalpropertiesofbothprepared and marketed shampoos. The formulated herbal shampoo was also evaluated forconditioningperformancebyadministeringablindtest to20student volunteers. Theformulated herbal shampoo was clear and appealing. It showed good cleansing anddetergency, low surface tension, small bubble size and good foam stability after 5 min. Thepreparedshampooandcommercial shampoos showedcomparableresults for %solidcontents also. The score of the conditioning performance of the tress washed with herbalshampoo was found to be 3.0 out of 4, while the score of the marketed synthetic and herbalshampoowas3.4and3.3respectively. Theresultsindicatedtheformulatedshampooishaving excellent conditioningperformance, at par withcommercially availableshampoo.However, further research and development is required to improve it's quality and safety.Copyright 2014, Beni-Suef University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionShampoos are probably the most widely used cosmeticproductsforcleansinghairsandscalpinourdailylife(Ishi,1997). A shampoo is basically a solution of a detergentcontainingsuitableadditivesforotherbenetssuchashair-conditioning enhancement, lubrication, medication etc.Now-a-days many synthetic, herbal, medicated and nonmedicatedshampoosareavailableinthemarketbutpopu-larity of herbal shampoo among consumers is on rise becauseof their belief that these products being of natural origin are*Partiallypresentedasaposterin1stInternational ConferenceonPharmacyEducationintheEraofGlobalization organizedbyNizwa University, Jan, 2012.*Corresponding author. Tel.: 968 24504608x165.E-mail address: shahalamkhan@yahoo.com(S.A. Khan).Peer review under the responsibility of Beni-Suef University.HOSTEDBYAvailable online at www.sciencedirect.comScienceDirectj ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ bj basb e ni - s ue f uni v e r s i t yj o ur na l o f b a s i ca nda p p l i e ds c i e nc e s 3( 2 0 1 4 ) 3 0 1 e3 0 5http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjbas.2014.11.0052314-8535/Copyright 2014, Beni-Suef University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.safe andfree fromside effects (Manikar andJolly, 2001).Synthetic surfactants are added to shampoo primarily for thefoamingandcleansingactionbuttheirregularuseleadstodryness of hairs, hair loss, irritation to scalp and eyes (Potlurietal., 2013). Herbal formulationsareconsideredasalterna-tivetosyntheticshampoobutformulatingcosmeticsusingcompletelynatural rawmaterial isadifcult task(Shindeet al., 2013). Therearelargenumbers of medicinal plantswhich are reported to have benecial effects on hair and arecommonly used in formulation of shampoo (Firthouse, 2009).Theseplantproductsmaybeusedintheirpowderedform,crude form, puried extracts, or derivative form (Pooja et al.,2011). Itisextremelydifculttoprepareaherbal shampoousingasinglenatural material that wouldbemilder andsaferthanthesyntheticones, andatthesametimewouldcompetefavorablywithits foaming, detergencyandsolidcontent. We, therefore, considered to formulate a pure herbalshampoousingtraditionallyandcommonlyusedplantma-terials for hair washing in India and gulf region especially inOman.Thepericarpof Spindusmukorossi, commonlyknownasSoapnut or reetha, fruits of Phyllanthus emblica commonlyknown as Amla, and dried pods of Acacia concinna (Sheekakai)havetraditionallybeenusedinIndianfolkloresystemforcenturiesforwashinghair(Kapoor,2005).ReethaandShee-kakai produce rich lather when shakenwith water due to theirhighcontentof saponins. Theyarealsoknowntoproducebenecial effects on skin and other organ systems (Khushbooet al., 2010). Amla fruit is rich in vitamin C and is employed inhair preparations as antidandruff agent, hair growthpromoterandtostrengthenhairs(Srivasuki,2012).TheZiziphusspina-christi tree, knownas Sidr inArabic, is indigenous totheMiddleEastincludingOman,anditsleavesaretraditionallyused by women to wash, darken and lengthen hairs (Ali andKadhim, 2011). Itisreportedtocontainfoursaponinglyco-sidesthat helpinremovingexcesssebumwithout causingadverse reactions (Mahran et al., 1996). Saponins also exhibitantibacterial and antifungal activities that make themimportantingredientsofcosmeticapplications(Chenetal.,2010).Thisstudywasdesignedtoformulateaherbalshampooandtoevaluateandcompare itsphysicochemicalpropertieswith the marketed synthetic and herbal shampoo in search ofa safe and effective cosmetic product.2. Materials and methods2.1. Sample collectionAll plant materials except Ziziphus spina-christi were ob-tained fromOkhla market, NewDelhi, India and wereidentied and authenticated by a botanist of Jamia HamdardUniversity. Ziziphus leaves were collected from the garden inSohar, OmanandwereauthenticatedbythePharmacog-nosy professor, at Oman Medical College. Two commerciallyavailable shampoos namely Dove Shampoo (Unilever,MiddleEast) andHerbal Essencesshampoo(Procter andGamble company,US)werepurchasedfromthe localsupermarket.2.2. Preparation of plant extracts100 g of Ziziphus spina-christi leaves were washed underrunningwatertoremoveforeignsubstances, homogenizedandboiledinhot water for 4h. Theaqueousextract wasltered and concentrated to obtain semi solid mass (yield: 11%w/w). Aqueous extracts of Sheekakai andAmlawerealsoprepared by the similar method (yield: 8.3% w/w and 8% w/wrespectively). However, Reethapericarpswereextractedbycoldmacerationmethodusing70%ethyl alcohol toobtain11.2 g of solvent free semi solid mass (yield-11.2% w/w).2.3. Formulation of herbal shampooTheplant extracts weremixedindifferent proportions toobtain a shampoo whose formula is shown in Table 1. Herbalextracts were added to10% gelatin solutionandwere mixedby shaking for 20 min. Lemon juice (1 mL) and Methyl parabenwerealsoaddedwithstirring.FinallythepHofthesolutionwasadjustedbyaddingsufcientquantityof1%citricacidsolution. Fewdropsofroseessentialoilwerealsoaddedtoimpart aroma to the prepared shampoo and the nal volumewas made to 100 mL with gelatin solution.2.4. Evaluation of formulated and commercial shampooToevaluatethequalityofcommercialandpreparedformu-lations,severalqualitycontroltestsincludingvisualassess-ment, physicochemical controls conditioning performancetests were performed (Ashok and Rakesh, 2010).2.4.1. Physical appearance/visual inspectionThe formulation prepared was evaluated for the clarity, color,odor and foam producing ability (Aghel et al., 2007).2.4.2. Determination of pHThepHof10%v/vshampoosolutionindistilledwaterwasmeasured by using pH meter (Mi 151, Martini instruments) atroom temperature (Tarun et al., 2014).2.4.3. Determination of % of solid contents4 grams of shampoo were placed in a previously clean, dry andweighed evaporating dish. The dish and shampoo wasweighedagaintoconrmtheexactweightoftheshampoo.The liquid portion of the shampoo was evaporated by placingthe evaporating dish on the hot plate. The weight and thus %Table 1 e Composition of formulated herbal shampoo.Material QuantityReetha extract 2.5 gAmla extract 2.5 gSheekakai extract 2.5 gSidr extract 2 gLemon juice 1 mLMethyl paraben 1 mL of 0.05% solutionGelatin solution q.sCitric acid q.sEssential oil 0.1 mLb e ni - s ue f uni v e r s i t yj o ur na l o f b a s i ca nda p p l i e ds c i e nc e s 3( 2 0 1 4 ) 3 0 1 e3 0 5 302ofthesolidcontentsofshampooleftaftercompletedryingwas calculated.2.4.4. Dirt dispersion testTwo drops of shampoo were added to 10 mL of distilled watertaken in a large test tube. To this solution, one drop of Indiaink was added and the test tube was stopperedand shakententimes. Theamountofinkinthefoamwasindicatedbytherubric such as None, Light, Moderate or Heavy (Ali andKadhim, 2011).2.4.5. Surface tension measurementThesurfacetensionof10%w/vshampooindistilledwaterwas measuredusing stalagmometer at roomtemperature(Gaud and Gupta, 2001).2.4.6. Test to evaluate foaming ability and foam stabilityFoaming ability was determined by using cylinder shakemethod. Briey, 50mLofthe1%commercialorformulatedshampoo solution was placed into a 250 mL graduated cylin-der; it was covered with one hand and shaken 10 times. Thetotal volume of the foam content after 1 min of shaking wasrecorded.Foamstabilitywasevaluatedbyrecordingthefoamvol-ume after 1 min and 4 min of shake test (Klein, 2004).2.4.7. Wetting time testA canvas paper was cut into 1-inch diameter discs having anaverageweight of 0.44g. Thesmoothsurfaceof discwasplacedonthesurfaceof 1%v/vshampoosolutionandthestopwatch started. The time required for the disc to begin tosink was noted down as the wetting time (Manikar and Jolly,2000).2.4.8. Evaluation of conditioning performanceAhairtressofanAsianwomanwasobtainedfromalocalsalon. It was cut into four swatches of the tresses withapproximatelythelengthof10cmandtheweightof5g. Aswatchwithoutwashingservedasthecontrol. Otherthreetresseswerewashedwiththecommercial andformulatedshampoos in an identical manner. For each cycle, each tresswas shaken with the mixture of 10 g of a sample and 15 g ofwater in a conical ask for 2 min and then rinsed with 50 mLwater. Afterward, eachtresswasleftforairdryingatroomtemperature. The tresses were washed for maximum ten cy-cles. The conditioning performance of the shampoos i.e.smoothness and softness, was evaluated by a blind touch test,administered to twenty randomly selected student volunteers(Boonmeetal.,2011).Allthe students were blind folded andaskedtotouchandrate the four tresses for conditioningperformancefromscore1to4(1 poor; 2 satisfactory;3 good; 4 excellent).3. Statistical analysisData were analyzed using SPSS v.19. All tests were performedintriplicateanddataareexpressedasMeanstandardde-viation. ANOVAsinglefactorwasusedfordeterminingsig-nicance. P values