Iodinated Aloe Vera Formulations for Antimicrobial and Cosmeceutical Applications

Plants-and biomass-derived products promise health-promoting, biodegradable and sustainable properties for the increasingly health-aware consumers. Such products contain natural bio compounds, which can be exploited for improved benefits of available applications in public health, cosmetics, and medicine. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) endangers global health and is responsible for the surge in morbidity and mortality cases. Alternative antimicrobial agents are impervious for the survival of mankind. Plants and biomass-derived products are naturally resistant since their existence against natural enemies and are able to defend themselves against opportunistic pathogens. We investigated formulations in our previous studies based on Aloe vera (AV) and iodine (I2). Both have been known for centuries as health-promoting, cost-effective antimicrobials and anti-inflammatory agents used against different ailments and in wound treatment. AV has many cosmetic and cosmeceutical applications. I2, a basic microbicide, is widely marketed in combination with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in the form of PVP-I, also called povidone-iodine. Povidone-iodine and AV are used for skin, nasal, and oral cavities as anti-infective agents in many cosmeceutical applications. Oral health and hygiene products like toothpaste and mouthwash contain AV and PVP-I. We studied previ ous formulations AV-PVP-I2, AV-PVP-NaI-I2, AV-PVP-Sage-I2, and AV-PVP-TCA-I2, where NaI is sodium iodide and TCA is trans-cinnamic acid. In this paper, we also mention our preliminary results of iodinated AV formulations with Punica granatum (Pomegranate). Pomegranate is widely consumed all over the world and renders the pomegranate peel (PP). PP makes 43% out of pomegranate fruit and is managed as a food additive or waste product. A mounting number of new investigations highlight its potential use in different applications due to its rich bio-constituents. We incorporated this biomass-based PP into our formulations AV-PVP-PP-I2 and studied its antimicrobial effects in disc diffusion (DD) studies against 10 common reference strains. We compared the results with our previous investigations and concluded their potential use as disinfecting agents in skin and oral cavities for the prevention of inflammation and surgical site infections (SSI). Further investigations are needed to verify the in-vivo uses of the studied iodinate AV formulations.