Abstract

The benzophenones present in Garcinia indica, are known for their anti-proliferative activities against cancerous cells. However, little literature is available on the cosmetic utilization of Garcinia indica benzophenones hence it is a mandate to check the safety of these extracts as raw materials and in the finished products. In the current study, two different solvents methanol (ME) and ethyl acetate (EAE) were used to extract benzophenones from G. indica fruit rinds. A third extract was made by fractionating EAE with water to give a garcinol-enriched extract (TEAE). All three extracts were tested for their toxicity on mice fibroblast cell lines (NIH/3T3). Our previous research data reveals that TEAE extract showed the highest garcinol content and antioxidant and SPF activity, thus a standardized SPF formulation was prepared using TEAE. The IC50 value of ME, EAE, and TEAE was 400μg/ml, 80μg/ml, and 63.32μg/ ml respectively. TEAE showed the highest toxicity in cosmetic formulations as well. Hence, kokum butter with cell proliferative and migratory potential was used to ameliorate these toxic effects. Additionally, in our previous findings, the cream formulations were also tested for SPF activity with 3% OMC and 2.5% TEAE and as per the COLIPA guidelines it showed a synergistic SPF of 14 in comparison when OMC and TEAE were used alone i.e. 8.05 and 3.68 respectively. The cytotoxicity induced by OMC and/or TEAE was also controlled using Kokum butter. The formulations were tested for irritation on the mice fibroblast cells and found to be practically non-Irritant according to the Japanese Ministry of Healthcare and welfare guidelines for manufacturing cosmetics and quasi-drugs. To conclude, the ethyl acetate extract and kokum butter-containing formulations can pose severe skin benefits when put together and can be further explored for their non-SPF potentials such as MMPase inhibition and cell-based antioxidant potential.

Keywords: Garcinia indica; Fruit rinds; Toxicity; Scratch test; Ethyl acetate; SPF; Non-SPF; Kokum butter