Formulation and evaluation of herbal ointment containing Cajanus Cajan extract

Abstract

From the ancient times being a rich source of protein and a most important forage crop, Cajanus Cajan is the most widely used and cultivated crop. It has also been used traditionally in many parts of the world for its innumerable medicinal properties but still its identity as a medicinal plant is not established. To date, several flavonoids, isoflavonoids, tannins and protein fractions have been isolated from its different parts and their medicinal uses have been established, but many bioactive constituents and pure compounds have so far been neglected by phytochemists and pharmacologists and a large amount of work has been done only on extracts and not the isolated fractions which shows scope for further study in this direction. Traditional knowledge of the past and present folk is of massive value to the development of newer drug compounds. In the present work an attempt has been made in the development of four formulations of herbal ointment of Cajanus Cajan. All the formulations were studied for physicochemical properties like spreadability, extrudability, washability, solubility, loss on drying and showed satisfactory results. The prepared formulations showed proper pH range that is approximately pH 6; it confirms the compatibility of the formulations with skin secretions. The ointment formulations were found to be stable during stability study according to ICH guidelines (40 ± 2 °C/ 75 ± 5 % RH) for 3 months. F4 was found to be the best formulation as it shows 97.36% drug release within 5 hours, drug content 97.68% as compared to other three formulations.