Development and Evaluation of a Topical Herbal Gel for the Treatment of Tinea pedis http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v6i12.2

Abstract

Allium cepa fractions have been shown to possess antifungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum. The antifungal effect of the plant is mainly attributed to the presence of Allicin. This study aims to formulate a topical antifungal gel and assess its physical stability and efficacy parameters against T. rubrum. The gel was formulated with various concentration of Allium cepa fractions FI (5%), F2 (7.5%), and F3 (12.5%). Each formulation was tested for physical stability and efficacy against T. rubrum. The agar well diffusion method was used to determine their antifungal activities using SDA plates. Furthermore, the antifungal activities were assessed by the presence or absence of inhibition zones after incubating the plates at 28oC for 7 days. The topical gel was a fawn-coloured homogenous semi-solid preparation that was readily spreadable upon skin contact with no tackiness sensation. The optimized gel showed no phase separation after the cycling test in six cycles (one cycle consists of temperatures of 4oC for 24 hours and 40oC for 24 hours). The efficacy test showed that the topical gel produced better inhibition zones against T. rubrum than the negative control. F3 (12.5%) showed the most inhibitory potentials of all the formulations (F1 and F2). These results demonstrate that Allium cepa fractions can be formulated into a stable semi-solid dosage form and with antifungal activity against T. rubrum.