Design and Characterization of Herbal Nanoemulsion for Topical Therapy of Psoriasis

Abstract

This study focuses on the comprehensive physical characterization, identification, and nanoemulsion formulation of garlic and cinnamon extracts to enhance cutaneous dispersion. A physical investigation revealed that garlic was an off-white powder with a pungent aroma and taste, whereas cinnamon was a reddish-brown powder lacking a distinct form, exuding a sweet and woody scent. The melting point test confirmed the published values: garlic melted at 165°C and cinnamon melted at −7°C. FTIR spectroscopy showed obvious, distinct peaks when it was used to find functional groups. This supports the idea that the molecule is real. The UV spectrophotometric calibration curves in methanol indicated that both extracts had extremely great linearity (R² > 0.997). This suggested that the method was good for quantitative analysis. We used oleic acid as the oil phase, Tween 80 as the surfactant, and PEG 400 as the co-surfactant to make nanoemulsions. We accomplished this by analyzing solubility profiles and constructing a pseudo-ternary phase diagram. Out of all the Smix ratios that were tried, the 2:1 ratio made the best nanoemulsion area. Thermodynamic stability tests indicated that formulation A2 has the optimum physicochemical qualities for application on the skin. These were the droplet size (50.00±1.57 nm), the low PDI (0.14±0.03), the pH (6.5±0.52), the viscosity (140.8±3.02 cP), and the high transmittance (97.56±0.06%). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the existence of uniform, spherical nanodroplets free from aggregation. Ex-vivo permeation studies employing porcine ear skin demonstrated significantly enhanced penetration and dermal deposition with the nanoemulsion hydrogel (Formulation A2) relative to the conventional carbopol gel, yielding enhancement ratios of 2.93 and 2.74 for garlic and cinnamon, respectively. Stability studies under ICH conditions showed that the droplet size and other physical characteristics didn't change significantly over 90 days. This showed that the formulation was strong.