FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF CREAM CONTAINING CALENDULA OFFICINALIS AND CENTELLA ASIATICA AQUEOUS EXTRACTS

The objective of this study was preparing and evaluating cream formulations containing aqueous extracts of Calendula officinalis and Centella asiatica, and also to conduct a preliminary phytochemical analysis for the said aqueous extracts. The plant aqueous extracts were prepared by macerating the dry powders of the aforementioned plants; water-in-oil creams were prepared in varying concentrations of Calendula officinalis and Centella asiatica aqueous extracts (5%, 7.5% and 10%). The creams thus prepared varied in the colour and texture, but all had good physical characters for a cream. The preliminary phytochemical analysis shows that Calendula officinalis aqueous extract contains flavonoids, saponins and tannins, while Centella asiatica aqueous extract contains flavonoids and tannins. Based on the results we have concluded that the formulation containing 5% of aqueous had the best overall characteristics of a cream compared to the other formulations as it had a good colour, was smooth in texture and had better stability.