PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HERBAL GEL OF AERIAL PARTS OF URARIA PICTA FOR TREATMENT OF SKIN DISEASE

Abstract

The present study aimed to prepare and evaluate a herbal gel containing hydroalcoholic extract of
Uraria picta. The extract was obtained with a yield of 12.5% w/w and subjected to preliminary
phytochemical screening, which revealed alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, proteins,
carbohydrates, and diterpenes. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were 0.58 and 0.96 mg/100
mg of dried extract, respectively. Six herbal gel formulations (HG1–HG6) were prepared and
evaluated for their physical and pharmaceutical properties. HG5 was selected as the optimized
formulation based on its satisfactory characteristics and drug-release profile. The optimized
formulation showed 97.2 ± 0.3% drug release at 120 min. HG5 also exhibited concentration-dependent
antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Candida albicans, with
maximum zones of inhibition of 12 ± 0.74, 10 ± 0, and 11.6 ± 0 mm, respectively, at 100 mg/ml. The
findings suggest that Uraria picta herbal gel possesses promising antimicrobial potential and may be
useful as a topical herbal formulation.