Natural sunscreen formulation with a high sun protection factor (SPF) from tengkawang butter and lignin
Muhammad Arif Darmawan, Nurul Hikmah Ramadhani, Nadhira Alifa Hubeis, Muhammad Yusuf Arya Ramadhan, Muhamad Sahlan, Suraini Abd‐Aziz, Misri Gozan
Abstract
Sun protection agents from natural materials have a lower risk of side effects. This study evaluated the effect of lignosulfonate addition to increase the quality and SPF value of tengkawang butter. The sunscreen formulation is made with a mixture of tengkawang butter as the primary ingredient of sunscreen and lignosulfonate as a natural activating agent. Variations in lignosulfonate types (Ca-Lignosulfonate, Mg-Lignosulfonate, and Na-Lignosulfonate) and concentration (1%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10% w/w) were used in this study. The results show the addition of Ca, Mg, and Na-lignosulfonate has reduced the acidity of tengkawang butter from 4.795 ± 0.125 mg NaOH/g sample to 3.28 ± 0.13, 3.18 ± 0.28, and 2.39 ± 0.28 mg NaOH/g sample, respectively. The peroxide number of tengkawang butter was also reduced with the addition of Ca, Mg, and Na-lignosulfonate from 3.68 ± 0.73 meq O2/kg sample to 3.59 ± 0.62, 3.62 ± 0.67 and, 3.59 ± 0.52 meq O2 /kg sample, respectively. The results showed that adding 10% (w/w) Ca-lignosulfonate, Mg-lignosulfonate and Na-lignosulfonate increased the SPF value of tengkawang butter from 4.04 ± 0.12–13.12 ± 0.26 (224%), 13.05 ± 0.11 (223%), and 16.98 ± 0.95 (320%), respectively. The increase of SPF value has a relationship with the chromophore compounds in lignin. The results of this study can be used as a cosmetic formulation with high SPF to protect the skin from ultraviolet rays.