INTRODUCTION:

Hair is one of the vital parts of the body considered to be protective appendages on the body and accessory structure of the integument along with sebaceous glands, sweat glands and nails. The basic part of hair is bulb (a swelling at the base which originates from the dermis), root (which is the hair lying beneath the skin surface), shaft (which is the hair above the skin surface)¹. Hair loss is a dermatologic disorder, and the surge for discovering natural products with hair growth promoting potential is continuous. Each hair grows in three cyclic phases’ viz., anagen (growth), catagen (involution) and telogen (rest).

Herbal cosmetics were gaining tremendous demand in the world market. There is a wide range of herbal cosmetic products used as beauty regime to satisfy the purpose of beautification. Adding herbs in cosmetics is safer for our skin². Herbal hair oils were serving the purpose of hair treatment. Herbal hair oil not only moisturizes scalp but also reverses dry scalp and dry hair conditions. It provides numerous essential nutrients required to maintain normal functions of the sebaceous gland and promote natural hair growth.

The present work was aimed to prepare and evaluate a polyherbal hair oil containing herbs like Amla, Almond, Garlic, Mehendi powder, Neem, Castor oil, Arendal oil, Curry leaves in Coconut oil. All these herbs have well known traditional potential in the treatment of hair care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Collection of Plant Materials:

The polyherbal hair oil was prepared ^3-8by collecting various plant materials like Amla fruits, curry leaves, henna leaves, neem leaves from herbal garden and almond, garlic, castor oil, Arendal oil and coconut oil were procured from local market [Table : 1]. Plant profile of some herbal material used in preparation of polyherbal hair oil was given below,

Amla:

Biological source: Dried fruits of Phyllanthus emblica

Family: Phyllanthaceae

Use: hair conditioner, treats scalp ailments, promotes hair growth.

Curry Leaves:

Biological source: Dried leaves of Murraya koenigii

Family: Rutaceae

Use: Prevents hair fall and premature greying of hair.

Henna:

Biological source: Dried leaves of Lawsonia inermis

Family: Lythraceae

Use: hair colorant helps in hair growth.

Neem:

Biological source: Dried leaves of A. Indica

Family: Meliaceae

Use: Leaves Antimicrobial, antiseptic, antidandruff

Coconut oil:

Biological source: Oil derived from dried fruits of Cocus nucifera.

Family: Arecaceae

Use: moisturiser, vehicle, stimulates hair growth by unclogging pores.

Procedure for Preparation of Hair Oil:

Accurately weigh all the dried and fresh herbs and leaves powder. Mix coconut oil, arendal oil and castor oil uniformly. After that mixing add almond oil, mehendi powder, Amla extract and keep aside for overnight. Then add curry leaves, garlic, neem extract and boil until colour of curry leaves changes to dark brown colour. After the colour change whole preparation was filtered through muslin cloth. Finally small amount of color and flavoring agent was added to the oil and it was placed in amber colored bottle.

Table no. 1 Formulation of Herbal Hair Oil

Sr. No.	Ingredients	Quantity (%)
1	Amla	5
2	Almond	2
3	Garlic	1
4	Mehendi powder	2
5	Neem	2.5
6	Curry leaves	2.5
7	Arendal oil	25
8	Castor oil	30
9	Coconut oil	30

Evaluation of Herbal Hair Oil:

The formulated herbal oil was evaluated for parameters like pH, acid value, saponification value, refractive index, viscosity and organoleptic parameters^9,
10.

1. Acid value:

10ml of oil was added with 25ml of ethanol and 25ml of ether. Phenolphthalein was added as indicator and titrated with 0.1M potassium hydroxide solution,

Acid value = 5.61n/w Where,

n= Number of ml of 0.1M KOH

w= Weight of oil

2. Saponification value:

2g of oil was accurately weighed and transferred into a 250ml of iodine flask. 25ml of 0.5M alcoholic potassium hydroxide was added and boiled under reflux on a water bath for 30mins. Phenolphthalein was added as indicator and titrated against 0.5M HCl (‘a’ ml). Similarly blank was performed (‘b’ ml) without the sample.

Saponification Value: 28.05(b-a)/w Where,

w= weight in grams of the solution.

3. pH:

pH of the herbal oil was detected using pH meter.

4. Viscosity:

Viscosity was determined using Ostwald’s viscometer.

5. Specific gravity:

Specific gravity of the prepared oil was determined using pyknometer or specific gravity bottle.

6. Refractive index:

It was determined using refractometer.

7. Organoleptic property:

Colour, odour, skin irritation was determined manually. Oil was applied on hand and exposed to sunlight for 5mins to check for any irritation over skin.

RESULTS:

The prepared polyherbal hair oil using the above mentioned ingredients was evaluated for the following parameters and the results are tabulated [Table: 2]

Table 2: Evaluation of Herbal Hair oil

Sr.No.	Parameters	Observation
1	Colour	Greenish brown
2	Odour	Characteristic
3	Specific gravity	1.093
4	Viscosity	0.961 Poise
5	pH	6.8
6	Acid value	4.5
7	Saponification value	112.05
8	Irritation test	No irritation
9	Refractive index	1.402

CONCLUSION:

This research provides guideline on the use of herbal ingredients on the preparation of Herbal Hair oil having minimal or no side effects. All the parameters showed that they are within the limits and since all the ingredients added have many advantages, this oil will help in maintaining good growth of hair, turning grey hair to black, protects from dandruff and results in lustrous looking hair.

REFERENCES:

1. Jain PK, Joshi H, Dass DJ, Drug that Causes Hair Loss and Promotes Hair Growth - A Review, International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, 2012; 3(4):1476-82.

2. Mithal B, Shah R., A Hand Book of Cosmetics, 1st ed., New Delhi: Vallabh Prakashan; 2000, 141-142.

3. Bhatia SC., Perfumes, soaps, detergents and cosmetics, 2nd ed., New Delhi, CBS Publishers and distributors; 2001; 639, 641.

4. Kirtikar K.P., Basu B.D., Indian Medicinal Plants, Vol. I, International Book Distributors, Dehradun, 1995, 768-769.

5. Shah C S, Qudry J S, A Text book of Pharmacognosy,11th Ed., B.S. Shah Prakashan, Ahmadabad, 1996; 119.

6. Evans W C, Trease, Evans, Pharmacognosy, 15th Ed., W.B. Saunders Harcourt Publishers Ltd., 2002; 292.

7. The Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Government of India, Ministry of Health and family planning, Department of health, Delhi, 1st ed.1978; part 1, 99.

8. N. Sanju, N. Arun, K. K. Roop, Cosmetic Technology, 1st Edition, Birla Publications Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, 2006, 379-382.

9. Adhirajan, N., Dixit, V. K., Chandrakasan, G., Development and Evaluation of Herbal Formulations for Hair growth, Indian Drugs, Nov-2001, 38 (11), 559-563.

10. Roy, R. K., Thakur, M., Dixit, V. K., Development and Evaluation of polyherbal formulation for hair growth- promoting activity, Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, Nov-2006, 6, 108-112.

Received on 28.11.2017 Accepted on 18.02.2018

Asian J. Pharm. Res. 2018; 8(1):36-38.

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2018.00007.2