Nanocream with Active Ingredients of Cardamom Seeds Oil as an Antibacterial Topical Preparation

Cardamom is one of the Indonesian herbs that produce essential oil which is known to have various pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial. Cardamom essential oil (CEO) in this study was obtained by ultrasonic-assisted extraction-hydrodistillation (UAE-HD). For practical topical application, nano cream formulation was developed. This study aimed to observe the CEO antibacterial activity in nano cream preparation with the variation of Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance (HLB) with values 10, 11, 12 and oil concentrations 2.5%, 5%, 7%, 10%, and 15%. CEO nano cream presented inhibition zone 6.03-15.23 mm against Escherichia coli and 11.13-15.23 mm against Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial activity in CEO was due to the main constituent that was 1,8-cineol. The particle size and zeta potential produced by the nano cream formulation ranged from 114,3 – 341,53 nm and 73,43 – 94,70 mV, respectively. The physical properties of CEO nanocream were as follows, pH 4.30-6.45; spreadability 5.1-6.9 cm; and viscosity 5210-6910 cP and showed excellent stability for 4 weeks. The best formulation was the formulation with the highest antibacterial activity in order to provide good efficacy. The formulation with CEO concentration 15%; HLB 12 possessed inhibition zone 10.2 mm and 11.4 mm for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. The average particle size was 270.40 ± 0.38 nm and zeta potential -88.70 ± 0.20 mV, wherein still meets the nanoemulsion size range that enable penetrated into stratum corneum. This concluded that cardamom essential nano cream can be considered a potential antibacterial topical preparation.