Abstract

In this research, Emulgel of curcumin was developed by using Carbopol 940 as a gelling agent. Curcumin is a hydrophobic natural origin drug and Emulgel can suitably deliver hydrophobic drugs. Therefore this is a challenging task for the administration of curcumin through the skin. During the development of Emulgel, curcumin was rarely solubilized in the water phase, so firstly we dissolve them in ethanol and dispersed them in the water phase. Curcumin is the natural origin drug obtained from Curcuma longa, they have a broad number of activities like antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, etc. Curcumin is a well-identified herbal-origin drug by traditional medicine scriptures. It is well established for the cure of various ailments including cancer, fungal infection, and bacterial infection. However, the natural origin drug imparts a bioavailability problem. To overcome this obstacle the emulgel was developed. Emulgel was developed by adding the oil phase into the aqueous phase by continuous stirring. Therefore the gel phase was developed by dissolving Carbopol 940 in purified distilled water followed by gentle heat on a magnetic stirrer, finally developed emulsion and gel was mixed (1:1 ratio) properly by the propellant mixer. In the Preformulation study solubility, PH, color, FTIR of curcumin were analyzed properly. Further, all the developed formulations were evaluated for their PH, physical characteristics, spreadability, phase separation, in-vitro drug release, drug content, and viscosity, etc. After a study of all obtained results, it was founded that formulation F2 and F4 best in all prospects. The viscosity of F2 and F4 was 12600 Centipoise and 11400 Centipoise respectively. The % release of the drug from Emulgel formulation was 80-95%. Finally, F2 and F4 were decided as an optimized formulation for the final formulation. The drug content of all developed formulations was founded to be 83-90%. Also after 3 months, the drug content should maintain the formulation. From this study we say that Emulgel is an appropriate topical drug delivery system as compared to another already available topical dosage form, Emulgel has the best spreadability and adhesive property therefore it is suitable for dermal application. To know the detailed antibacterial activity and irritability property of curcumin Emulgel there is a need for in vivo study in the future.

Keywords: Emulgel; Cumin oil; Ternary phase; Gelling agent