Development of natural cosmetic preservatives from plant

Background: Parabens have been extensively used as cosmetic preservatives, because of their broad antimicrobial spectrum. As the concern of consumers on chemical materials grows highly and many research data showed side-effects of parabens, recently government announced that several paraben derivatives are going to be prohibited. New ingredients of preservatives need to be developed. Objectives: Studies to find the potential alternatives from plants extract as cosmetic preservatives are performed. Methods: The disk diffusion susceptibility method was performed with Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After identifying the plant extracts as potential preservatives through disk diffusion tests, broth dilution test was conducted to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was also tested. Results: The plant extract named as HNE-0034 in our study showed weak antimicrobial effects against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilus. NV-015 is also known as a component of a non-preservative hydrating ingredient. However, the combination of HNE-0034 and NV-015 displayed noticeable synergistic prevention against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilus. Conclusion: Our data showed the possible application of combination of plant extracts and moisturizer as new preservatives. For the development of new preservatives in cosmetics, plants extract showed unlimited possibilities.