Formulation and characterization of nanoemulgel mangosteen extract in virgin coconut oil for topical formulation

A hydrogel of nanoemulsion system containing mangosteen extract of mangosteen rind was developed and characterized for the purpose of topical formulation. Mangostins, the bioactive in the extract, has been known to have biological activities such as antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral and antitumoral. Due to the hydrophobic nature of mangostins, they can not to be directly formulated into a gel. Oil-in-water nanoemulsions were formulated of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as the oil phase and mixed surfactant consisting of Tween 80 and Span 80, using the high-speed homogenization method. Nanoemulgel formed by mixing the nanoemulsion with aqueous solution of xanthan gum, and added phenoxyethanol as a preservative, was a homogeneous milky white gel. The stability test through accelerated centrifugation and freeze-thaw cycle showed that the nanoemulgel would be stable for at least one year. The nanoemulgel penetrated the skin layer up to 12 μg/cm2 or more than 95% of its total mangostin content, better than the skin penetration result of the nanoemulsion formulation. The present study revealed that VCO-mangostins nanoemulgel formulation is a prospective topical formulation