Red Pigmented Natural Extract as Potential Organic UV Filter and

Its Use in Combination with ZnO as Sunscreen Cream

Eva Monica

*, Leny Yuliati

2,3

and Yuyun Yuniati

Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Ma Chung, Villa Puncak Tidar N-01,

Malang 65151, East Java, Indonesia

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Ma Chung, Villa Puncak Tidar N-01,

Malang 65151, East Java, Indonesia

Ma Chung Research Center for Photosynthetic Pigments, Universitas Ma Chung, Villa Puncak Tidar N-01, Malang

65151, East Java, Indonesia

Keywords: SPF, red pigment; natural extract; organic UV filter; secang, zno, sunscreen.

Abstract: Sunlight consists of ultraviolet (UV) light and organic Ultraviolet (UV) filters can be found in plants and

fruits which have orange-red or pink colors, such as watermelon, tomato, Secang (Caesalpinia sappan),

carrot, dragon fruit, faloak (Sterculia quadrifida R.Br), strawberry, papaya, and rosella. Most of these plants

contain active compounds such as carotenoids and anthocyanin. Determination of the effectiveness of the

extracts as potential sunscreen was carried out by determining the Sun Protecting Factor (SPF) value in vitro

by UV spectrophotometry. Maceration technique was used for the extraction process by using ethanol with a

ratio of 4:1. Each of dried extract (100 mg) was then mixed well in the ethanol (96%, 50 mL) until all the

extract was dissolved and then filtered. The SPF values were determined by the Equation of Mansur. It was

observed that all of the red pigmented extracts showed UV protection capabilities, with Secang extract gave

the highest SPF value of 18.490. The Secang extract would have good potential to be developed as one of the

ingredients in the sunscreen cream. Sunscreen cream combination between Secang extract and ZnO showed

good quality and significant SPF value than ZnO and extract Secang sunscreen cream.

1 INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is a country with a tropical climate so that

it gets more sunlight intensity than other countries.

Sunlight, called ultraviolet (UV) light based on its

wavelength, is divided into UVA, UVB and UVC.

UVA has the longest wave of 320-400 nm and causes

skin cancer in the epidermal layer, UVB with a

wavelength of 290-320 nm gives an effect on the

epidermis and dermis layer causing the skin to burn

and UVC with the shortest wavelength 180-280 nm

(Manuaba, 2010). UVC and most of the UVB

radiation is absorbed by the ozone layer in the earth's

atmosphere, therefore UVA accounts for 95% of UV

radiation to the earth's surface which affects the entire

organism. UVA is a major cause of skin injury and

disease in humans, also indirectly affects DNA / RNA

damage (Zhong et al., 2011).

Sunscreens initially developed to prevent sunburn

and have evolved to protect against other harmful

effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). UVB (280-320

nm) typically induces erythema and direct DNA

damage via pyrimidine dimer formation, whereas

UVA (320-400 nm) is associated with tanning and

photo aging. (R, BA and MD, 2011). Sunscreens can

absorb at least 85% of the sun's rays at a wavelength

of 290-320 nm for UVB but can continue to light at

wavelengths of more than 320 nm for UVA

(Amnuaikit and Boonme, 2013).

Sunscreen products consist of several chemicals

that can absorb UV radiation or commonly called UV

filters or UV light retaining. UV filter is an individual

compound or mixture that is useful to prevent UV

light from passing through it. Based on its function,

the active ingredient of sunscreen is divided into two,

namely absorbing compound as an absorbent of UVB

rays to filter incoming light, for example Octyl

dimethyl PABA, Octylmethoxycinnamate,

Octocrylene, tinosorb and reflecting compounds

which mechanism inhibit the absorption of UVA

rays, for example TiO2 and ZnO (Agustin,

Oktadefitri and Lucida, 2013). Semiconductor TiO2

176

Monica, E., Yuliati, L. and Yuniati, Y.

Red Pigmented Natural Extract as Potential Organic UV Filter and Its Use in Combination with ZnO as Sunscreen Cream.

DOI: 10.5220/0009126501760180

In Proceedings of the 2nd Health Science International Conference (HSIC 2019), pages 176-180

ISBN: 978-989-758-462-6

is used as an inorganic UV filter for sunscreens. TiO2

is used as a filter on sunscreen because it is widely

used as an agent to absorb or spread UV radiation and

has many characteristics that can be described,

including long-term topical use such as cream, broad

spectrum absorption, high photo stability, and low

irritation (Ko et al., 2012). In addition, TiO2 has a

deficiency if applied to the skin leaving white and

opaque marks and inducing free radical formation

under light exposure. This is an initial research of

sunscreen formulations made by combining organic

and inorganic solar filters because inorganic filters

can block UVA radiation and most organic filters

protect from UVB radiation (Reinosa et al., 2016).

Inorganic filters work by filtering or blocking UV

light throughout the UVA and UVB ranges at 290-

400 nm waves through absorption, scattering and

reflection (Serpone, Dondi and Albini, 2007). While

the organic filter in the results of Jacek and

Katarzyna's research in 2014(Arct and Pytkowska,

2014) has the property of penetrating the skin,

affecting the body's hormones, having photochemical

activities and reactions that occur in infected skin.

A study conducted by (Suwarni and Suprijono,

2014) about making creams from natural ingredients

using extracts of ant nests with carica fruit (mountain

papaya) that these two ingredients can improve the

stability of the preparation with the formation of

physical characteristics and good SPF values.

Another study showed that ethanolic bark extract of

Prosopis cineraria which is an excellent source of

natural

flavonoids and polyphenols showed decrease

in skin melanin, erythema and sebum contents by the

application of the formulation by in vivo method

(Mohammad et al., 2018).

Organic UV filters are found in plants and fruits

that are orange-red or pink, such as tomatoes,

watermelons, dragon fruit, papaya, carrots, rosella,

faloak, Secang and strawberries. Most of these plants

contain active compounds such as carotenoids and

anthocyanins. Carotenoids are known as compounds

that have antioxidant activity because they have

conjugated double bonds. Carotenoids such as β-

carotene or lycopene are efficient antioxidants in

binding of oxygen singlet molecules and peroxyl

radicals produced during the photo oxidation process

(Prasiddha et al., 2016). The anthocyanin group is a

natural pigment with a red range that is abundant in

flowers, this pigment is able to fight the oxidation

process in the body (Zafra-Stone et al., 2007). Natural

pigments from several types of plants can disguise

and even cover the white marks caused by the use of

TiO

as an inorganic UV filter. In one study entitled

Determined by In Vitro Method "Effect of The

Organic and Inorganic Filters on The Sun Protection

Factor" shows a synergistic effect when TiO

combined with anisotriazine or PABA octyl dimethyl

The combination of ZnO and organic filter also had

the same synergistic effect (El-Boury et al., 2007).

Therefore, this research was conducted to determine

if ZnO has synergistic effect when combine with red

pigmented extract plant in enhancing the SPF value.

2 METHODS

Materials used were Ethanol p.a. (Sigma), Ethanol

96%, Watermelon, Tomato, Secang, Carrot, Dragon

Fruit, Strawberry, Papapaya, Rosella, and Faloak,

ZnO, IKA Rotary Evaporator, Spectrophotometer

UV-Vis (Jasco)

Ethanol extraction were obtained from maceration

with ratio 1:4 in ethanol 96%. Filtrat was then

evaporate using rotary evaporator and dried.

Determination of the effectiveness of the potential

sunscreen extract was carried out by determining the

SPF value in vitro by UV-Vis spectrophotometry.

The extracts of each ingredient were weighed as

much as 100 mg, 50 ml of 96% ethanol was added

and shaken until homogeneous then filtered. Ethanol

96% was used as blank. The absorbance were

measured, with wavelengths between 290-320 nm.

Then the average absorption (Ar) is set at 5 nm

intervals. The results of the absorbance of each

concentration are recorded and then the SPF value is

calculated by the Equation of Mansur.

SPF = CF

∑





I





Absλ





(1)

CF = Correction Factor (10)

EE(λ) =Erythema Effect Spectrum

I(λ) = Intensity of UV

Abs(λ) = Absorbance of Extract

Whereas EE(λ) x I(λ) value is a constant

(Malsawmtluangi et al., 2013) shown in table 1.

Table 1: EE(λ) x I(λ) values in mansur equation (Dutra et

al., 2004).

Wavelength

(nm)

EE(λ) x I(λ)

290 0,0150

295 0,0817

300 0,2874

305 0,3278

310 0,1864

315 0,0839

320 0,0180

Red Pigmented Natural Extract as Potential Organic UV Filter and Its Use in Combination with ZnO as Sunscreen Cream

177

SPF values from different extract by three

replications were analysed with ANOVA using R

Studio

Table 2: Sunscreen formula with variation of secang extract

and ZnO.

Formula F1 F2 F3

Secang Extract

ZnO

Tween 80

Cetyl Alkohol

TEA

Dimethicone

Spermaceti

Isopropyl

Myristate

Propilenglikol

Asam Stearat

Aerosil

Asam benzoat

Parfume

Aquadest

20%

1,95%

5,55%

2,5%

0,5%

23%

0,3%

0,1%

31%

10%

1,95%

5,55%

2,5%

0,5%

23%

0,3%

0,1%

31%

20%

1,95%

5,55%

2,5%

0,5%

23%

0,3%

0,1%

31%

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of the statistical analysis showed that extracts

from the nine plants differs significantly (Sig. 0.000)

between extract groups. As can be seen in Table 3, Secang

showed the largest SPF results that were significantly

different from all of the herbal groups, which amounted to

18,490. The effectiveness of sunscreen is usually stated

with SPF (Sun Protecting Factor) which is a comparison of

the UV energy needed to make a minimum of erythema

effect on protected and unprotected skin.

Table 3: SPF values of different red pigmented herbal

extracts.

Herbal Extracts SPF Value

Watermelon 8.889±0.198

Tomato 5.764±1.062

Secang 18.490±1.116

Carrot 4.933±0.543

Dragon Fruit 5.220±0.713

Faloak 15.842±0.373

Strawberry 14.437±0.215

Papaya 10.221±0.569

Rosella 12.973±0.875

Table 4: Absorbance of watermelon, tomato, secang, carrot, dragon fruit, faloak, strawberry, papaya, and rosella extract.

Wavelength EE×I Absorbance

Watermelon Tomato Secang Carrot Dragon Fruit

290 0.015 0.789±0.014 0.568±0.077 1.014±0.06 0.518±0.052 0.557±0.065

295 0.0817 0.869±0.016 0.601±0.095 1.171±0.007 0.534±0.056 0.543±0.069

300 0.2874 0.893±0.017 0.598±0.104 1.290±0.007 0.519±0.056 0.527±0.070

305 0.3278 0.876±0.019 0.572±0.106 1.373±0.008 0.487±0.053 0.510±0.069

310 0.1864 0.945±0.025 0.580±0.118 3.327±0.435 0.485±0.056 0.531±0.077

315 0.0839 0.868±0.026 0.519±0.106 3.027±0.290 0.431±0.051 0.512±0.076

320 0.018 0.736±0.026 0.430±0.082 2.412±0.161 0.358±0.044 0.477±0.072

Table 5: Absorbance of watermelon, tomato, secang, carrot, dragon fruit, faloak, strawberry, papaya, and rosella extract

(continued).

Wavelength EE×I Absorbance

Faloak Strawberry Papaya Rosella

290 0.015 1.138±0.013 0.871±0.009 0.867±0.027 0.912±0.012

295 0.0817 1.287±0.012 0.994±0.013 0.976±0.032 1.046±0.025

300 0.2874 1.390±0.012 1.011±0.019 1.017±0.042 1.128±0.040

305 0.3278 1.451±0.015 0.944±0.022 0.997±0.051 1.173±0.054

310 0.1864 2.071±0.109 0.987±0.028 1.137±0.086 1.665±0.185

315 0.0839 2.029±0.117 0.889±0.026 0.994±0.088 1.760±0.211

320 0.018 1.719±0.092 0.780±0.028 0.829±0.086 1.745±0.205

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Figure 1: SPF value of various natural extract.

Table 6: Physical quality test of sunscreen cream.

Test F1 F2 F3

Organoleptic Semisolid,

Magenta,

Parfume Aroma, Soft

Texture, Homogen

Semisolid,

Pink,

Parfume Aroma, Soft

Texture, Homogen

Semisolid,

White,

Parfume Aroma, Soft

Texture, Homogen

pH 8,01±0,02 8,31±0,01 8,66±0,03

Type of emulsion Water in Oil Water in Oil Water in Oil

Stickiness Ability Test 3,88±0,37 1,58±0,49 7,5±2,2

SPF Value 19.68 ± 0.024 19.38 ± 0.95 15.83 ± 0.07

Figure 2: Scattering ability test diagram.

Some herbal extracts have SPF values that do not

differ significantly from one another, which are

watermelon, strawberry and papaya extract, show a

range between 8,889 to 14,437 and another group that

are not significant is tomato, carrot and dragon extract

with a range of 4,933 to 5,764. It is known that Secang

extract has the highest SPF value, this is supported by

the red pigment from Secang extract which is more

concentrated than the red pigment obtained from

other extracts. Secang extract contains Brazilian

compounds in which these compounds is the

characteristic compound of Secang. Brazilian have

several functions and one of them is antioxidants. As

the previous study, it is suggested that plant extracts

acted by capturing ROS, thus minimizing erythema

and collaborating indirectly to in vivo SPF

enhancement (Cristina et al., 2016).

Therefore, Secang extract could potentially

formulated as sunscreen and could give

synergistically effect of reducing the white effect of

inorganic active substances and at the same time has

antioxidant benefits for the skin in order to counteract

free radicals due to induction of UV light exposure.

285 290 295 300 305 310 315 320 325

SPFValue

Wavelength

Watermelon Tomato Secang

Carrot DragonFruit Faloak

Strawberry Papaya Rosella

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

SurfaceArea(mm

)

Weight(gram)

Scattering Ability Test

Red Pigmented Natural Extract as Potential Organic UV Filter and Its Use in Combination with ZnO as Sunscreen Cream

179

4 CONCLUSIONS

SPF is a standard that has been used throughout the

world as a measure of the effectiveness of sunscreens.

Some of these herbal extracts have SPF capabilities.

The SPF value of several herbal extracts which have

red pigment with Mansur equation shows the

variation in the range between 4.933 to 18.490 and

the herbal extract which has the highest SPF value is

Secang extract. The Secang extract has the potential

to be developed into a natural pigment-based

sunscreen preparation formulation or to be combined

with an inorganic sunscreen active ingredient ZnO.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the Directorate General of

Strengthening Research and Development, Ministry

of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the

Republic of Indonesia via the Higher Education

Excellent Applied Research (PTUPT 2019,

041/SP2H/LT/MULTI/L7/2019.

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