Chemical and biological evaluations of potent antiseptic cosmetic products obtained from Momordica charantia seed oil

The Principles of Green Chemistry was employed for the preparation of organic antiseptic soaps with improved skin sensitivity, reduced skin toxicity and improved biodegradability. Non-conventional and lesser known tropical seeds of Momordica charantia were used as the source of oil for the saponification processes. The fatty acid methyl esters of the oil were prepared via transesterification and subjected to GC–MS analysis to obtain the fatty acid composition of the oil and saponified products were subjected to various physicochemical and antimicrobial evaluations. The results indicated that stearic acid (18:0) and eleostearic acid (18:3) were the most abundant fatty acids making up 37.60% and 39.16%, respectively. Palmitic acid (16:0) 12.36%, oleic acid (18:1) 8.71%, linoleic acid (18:2) 0.67% and gamolenic acid (18:3) 1.50% were present in smaller amount in the oil. The oil is a viable source of polyunsaturated fatty acid which is required as essential fatty acids in the human body. The prepared soaps containing only natural additives (such as honey and shear butter) and components showed appreciable degree of hardness comparable to commercial Dudu Osun and the synthetic Lux soaps used as standards. This work demonstrates the probability of the preparation of green antiseptic soaps from the underutilized tropical seed of M. charantia. The seed oil and the allied products obviously have great potential for further advancement, development, research and applications in health and cosmetics sectors. The adopted approach could also assist maintaining a safe and healthy biotic and abiotic environment.