Evaluation of Proteolytic activity of commercial shampoo-A preliminary study

A shampoo is a cleaning aid for the hair and is counted amongst the foremost beauty products. Shampoo is a hair care product that is used for the removal of oils, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair. The goal of using shampoo is to remove the unwanted build up without stripping out so much sebum as to make hair unmanageable. Shampoo is generally made by combining a surfactant, most often sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate, with a co-surfactant, most often cocamidopropyl betaine in water to form a thick, viscous liquid. Other essential ingredients include salt (sodium chloride), which is used to adjust the viscosity, a preservative and fragrance. Today's shampoo formulations are beyond the stage of pure cleaning of the hair. Additional benefits are expected, e.g. conditioning, smoothing of the hair surface, good health of hair, i.e, hair free of dandruff, dirt, grease and lice and all, its safety benefits are expected. As the scalp is one of the most highly permeable part of the body, products applied to the scalp go directly to the blood, without being filtered in any way. So it is very important to know and understand the effects of ingredients used in shampoo formulations. Proteolysis is the directed degradation (digestion) of proteins by cellular enzymes called proteases or by intramolecular digestion. In the present research represent the proteolysis effectiveness of shampoos based on synthetic ingredients.