Development of botanical based preservatives and antimicrobials for personal care products

Personal care products (e.g. shampoos, deodorants, cosmetics, etc.) contain chemical preservatives that are used to extend the shelf-life of the product from biological degradation. In addition to personal care products, a number of non-alcohol based hand sanitizers have antimicrobial compounds added to their formulation. The purpose of these compounds are not to act as preservatives but to improve the soap's antiseptic property. The current industry standards for personal product preservatives are a class of compounds referred to as parabans (1) (commercial examples are Germaben ll, Germaben ll-e and Germall). These parabens are effective preservatives but may have undesirable oestrogenic activity.

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The industry standard for antimicrobial soaps is triclosan (2). This product is a very effective antimicrobial compound but has a negative environmental impact in contributing organic chlorine compounds into the environment.

Over the past two years we have been evaluating native North American prairie plants as sources of compounds that can be used in soaps and personal care products as preservatives and antimicrobials. This presentation will discuss compounds and their biological activity isolated from Juniperus virginiana.