Preservation of cosmetics against Burkholderia cepacia complex using essential oils and multifunctional components

Abstract

Contamination of products by species of the Burkholderia cepacia (Bcc) complex has become a concern in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. Although traditional chemical preservatives prevent microbial growth, their safety and toxicity has been questioned. Thus, the use of cosmetics without traditional preservatives, or preservative free, has been sought as an alternative, where multifunctional components, such as caprylyl glycol, benzyl alcohol, among others, can promote the preservation of the formulation. Also, the use of natural preservatives, such as essential oils, can increase the preservation of cosmetic formulations. However, there is little evidence of these alternative preservatives in preservation against the Bcc complex. Thus, the present study intends to evaluate the antimicrobial and preservative activity in isolated form and in association of multifunctional compounds and essential oils against standard and wild strains of the Bcc complex. For this, the compounds caprylyl glycol, benzyl alcohol, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, ethylhexylglycerin and the essential oils Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (cinnamon), Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove) and the conventional preservatives methylparaben, propylparaben, phenoxyethanol, methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone will be tested in minimal inhibitory concentration assay and association assay. In addition, the preservative activity of these compounds will be evaluated using a preservative challenge test in formulations. The stability of the formulations will also be evaluated. With this, it is intended to verify the effectiveness of these multifunctional and natural components in cosmetic preservation against Bcc strains, contributing to the knowledge of alternatives to traditional preservatives.