Since both, justified and unjustified doubts regarding the safety of synthetic preservatives in cosmetic products have appeared in recent years and at the same time the trend of using natural ingredients is rising, cosmetic companies are forced to look for alternative solutions using antimicrobial substances of natural origin. One of the main challenges of the cosmetic industry is the regulation of microbiological integrity, as the content of microorganisms can be too high and dangerous to health.
In the master's thesis, we tested the efficacy of 33 antimicrobial substances of natural origin. We checked the microbiological adequacy of the produced emulsions by the method of counting grown colonies on petri dishes with the test of determining the total number of aerobic bacteria, yeasts and moulds of the European Pharmacopoeia. Only the formulation of 1.0 % Lactobacillus ferment under the trade name Leucidal® Liquid PT did not meet the criteria, as we observed contamination of the petri dish that exceeded the maximum acceptable number of microorganisms by more than 8 times. In a challenge test according to the ISO standard, we inoculated dermal emulsions with a known concentration of A. brasiliensis or C. albicans and observed whether they met the acceptance criteria at specific time points. The preservative efficacy test for A. brasiliensis did not meet neither criterion A nor criterion B for 3 formulations with antimicrobial substances of natural origin: 0.2% Geogard® 221 (benzyl alcohol, dehydroacetic acid), 1.5% Verstatil ® SL (sodium salt of levulinic acid, potassium sorbate) and 3.0% Verstatil® Synacide (sodium salt of levulinic, salicylic and aniseic acids). Organoleptic changes were observed in seven formulations: 2.0% Arborcide® OC (Leuconostoc ferment filtrate), 4.0% Arborcide® OC (Leuconostoc ferment filtrate), 2.0% Leucidal® Liquid (radish root ferment filtrate), 2, 0% Leucidal® Liquid Complete (radish root ferment filtrate, coconut fruit extract with Lactobaccilus), 0.25% PlantservativeTM WSR (common and Japanese blackberry flower extract), 2.0% Dermosoft® 1388 ECO (levulinic and anisic acid sodium salt) and 0.05% Dermosoft® Anisate ECO (sodium salt of aniseic acid). Although all seven met criterion A, they are not antimicrobial substances of natural origin that would provide sufficient protection against the growth of microorganisms.
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