Formulation of facial cream containing Sacha Inchi Plukenetia volubilis leaf extract and evaluation of its tyrosinase inhibitory and antioxidant activities

The purposes of this research were to explore tyrosinase inhibitory and anti-oxidant activities of Sacha Inchi leaf, and to develop skin lightening and anti-aging product for a facial cream from the crude extract of Sacha Inchi leaf. From the results obtained of this research, methanolic crude extract showed potent tyrosinase inbibition activity (IC₅₀ 34.55 µg/mL) whereas dichloromethane crude extract did not inhibit the tyrosinase activity. Therefore, the methanolic crude extract was selected for further studies on superoxide anion radicals scavenging capacity using photochemiluminescence (PCL) assay. In the result, antioxidant capacity of the crude methanolic extract was 16.1 µmol TE/g extract and 17.8 µmoL AE/g extract, cytotoxic effect of methanolic crude extract was examined on mice fibroblast normal (L929) and Hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines, respectively. The IC₅₀ of the methanolic crude extract exhibited on L929 cells showed at 1,641 µg/mL and HepG2 cells was 358 µg/mL. Four formulations were prepared in the form of oil-in-water emulsion containing the crude metanolic extract. The sensory evaluation, more than 90% of volunteers were accepted in formulation 3, with color, texture, spreadability, stickiness and overall of product. In the biological activities of formulated cream, the result revealed that methanolic extract showed tyrosinase inhibition and radicals scavenging properties. In addition, the formulation 3 was stable under accelerated conditions. This study suggests a potential use of the methanolic crude extract from Sacha Inchi leaf as an active ingredient in cosmetic products.