Introduction

The entire world is facing a serious health pandemic Covid-19, outbreak from Wuhan, China on 31^st December 2019. India is among the adversely affected nation especially in the second wave of the pandemic. The first Covid-19 case was reported in India on January 27, 2020, and it is now reached to 3.32Cr and 3.44L death and still going on. As per the guidelines social distancing, the use of facial masks, and hand sanitization are some effective measures to control the spread of the virus.¹ By habit we always touch our mouth, face, nose, and eyes which are the entry of various pathogens including Coronavirus therefore cleaning of hands from time to time is so necessary and must during the covid-19 pandemic. There are some common ways to clean our hands like tap water and soap. An alternative method of handwashing with soap and water is hand sanitizer, they are the substances that act as both cleaning and disinfecting the agents.² The common modes of delivering the active ingredient in hand sanitizers, whether alcohol or other disinfectants are foams, gels, cream, wipes, and sprays.³ Mostly two types of sanitizers are used that is -Nonalcohol based sanitizer- Non based alcohol sanitizer is less irritating than alcoholic. Alcohol-based sanitizer- Less user-friendly but has more efficacies to reduce contamination.⁴

The effectiveness of sanitizes is started with its formulations. Mostly alcohol-based sanitizer is most effective. It is found that the most effective hand sanitizer products are alcohol-based formulations containing 62%–95% of alcohol as it is capable of denaturing the proteins of virus coat and lipid envelope derived from the host cell.² 60% to 90% n propanol has more antibacterial activity than absolute alcohol by inhibiting the membrane synthesis or protein formation,⁵ unfortunately the effectiveness against non-enveloped viruses is still debatable.⁶ synthetic and alcohol-based sanitizer destroy the infecting agents in hand but also the beneficial flora of our hands. When we use herbal sanitizer drying of the skin is less and leaves more moisture.⁷ Aqueous extracts of perennial plants leave, that are Eucalyptus,  Neem  (Azadirachta  indica), and  Sadabhar (Catharanthus roseus),⁸ various herbal oils such as Cinnamon oil, Eucalyptus oil, menthol oil, and lavender oil showed better antimicrobial activity and are used to make herbal sanitizers.⁹ Therefore the present study aims to investigate medicinal plant extract commonly utilized in hand sanitizer and spray in India. The study may uncover the manufacturers, quantity, and volume of plant extract, antiviral properties of plants studied before, etc. The report may be useful to aware people of the medicinal plant-based hand sanitizer and sprays because the awareness about herbal products is directly related to getting its benefits¹⁰.

Materials and Methods

Hand sanitizer and spray are frequently utilized in the home, commercial complexes, public places therefore initially collected from our homes and offices. The product and/or its information were also gathered from our colleague. And finally, internet web sources were mapped too. After gathering the product, its manufacturer, license to manufacture was noted down to ensure that the product is made with government permission. After this, the composition of the product was noted in which contribution of the medicinal plant was specially recorded. The number of medicinal plants used in a particular product and the composition of the extract were also noted down. The medicinal plant used in sanitizer and spray were listed and its antiviral activity studied before was compiled. The complex data were then arranged in the form of tables and figures. Statistical tools were applied to satisfy the objectives of the work.

Results

The outcomes of the present study highlight the manufacturer of sanitizer and spray, a medicinal plant used in the composition, its quantity, and antiviral activity are also presented. There are only a few consumer product companies that manufacture the hand sanitizer and spray before Covid 19 pandemic that can utilize only in hospitals and laboratories. But during the pandemic, a huge demand flow shortens the supply in the country everywhere. Therefore several manufacturers take an interest to make hand sanitizer and spray for public demand. In the present work hand sanitizer and spray collected were manufactured by companies based on pharmaceutical, chemical, ayurvedic, cosmetics, and so on (Figure 1). Not only did the very well-known companies and brands like Zydus, Dettol, Nycile, Savlon, Lifebuoy, and Himalaya participate in the production but also micro-companies flourished during the pandemic. These companies launch band new products too. Now day manufacturers are available all over the country. In our investigation leading manufacturing, states belong to Maharashtra (19.05%) followed by Uttarakhand (17.46%), Himachal Pradesh (15.87%), and Gujarat (9.52%) (N=63 products). The manufacturer blended various colors and fragrances for consumer attention. Among which addition of medicinal plant extract is observed.

Figure 1 : Hand sanitizer and spray manufacturer industries in India Click here to view figure

Several manufacturers added various medicinal plant extract in the hand sanitizer and spray. In the present study, there are 63% (N=63 products) products having one or more medicinal plants. Most of the products were found with one to two medicinal plant extract (41.27%) followed by three to four (12.7%) and five to six (9.53%) plants with an average of 2.6 medicinal plants per product. While 36.51% of products have no medicinal plant extract. The volume of each medicinal plant in the product was found 5 to 10mg/10g (0.05 to 0.10%) while the average total volume of medicinal plant in the product was recorded from 15 to 20 mg/10g (0.15 to 0.20%). There are 19 medicinal plants of different families that were recorded as a composition of hand sanitizer and spray the coverage of medicinal plants in hand sanitizer and spray is presented in figure 2. Based on the coverage Azadirachta indica was found the most frequently used medicinal plant followed by Aloe barbadensis, Ocimum sanctum, and so on.

Figure 2: Medicinal plant contributed in the hand sanitizer and spray and their coverage Click here to view figure

Discussion

The use of medicinal plant extract in hand sanitizer and spray is mainly due to the antimicrobial properties of the metabolite present. However, there are certainly other reasons like the fulfillment of the quantity. The alcohol is required 70% more enough to kill the germs and the rest 30% may include mainly water while coloring and fragrance in very small proportion. So instant of water there are some possibilities to include such constituents that not only mimic the water but also make hand sanitizer and spray more effective. Keeping in mind medicinal plant extracts are one very useful alternate. The medicinal plant recorded in the present investigation from different hand sanitizer and spray were found antiviral (Table 1). Therefore it is excellent to include these plant extracts in hand sanitizer and spray. Some previous study reveals with the conceptualization of present study. Pandya et al.²⁹ has been used extract of Terminalia chebula and Azadirachta indica to make disinfectant for household cleaning purpose. The disinfectant was found active against some pathogen. In the present finding it is observed that the formulation is based on even two or more medicinal plant. In a previous study the investigator utilizes lemon, neem and blend of both to create an improved sanitizer³⁰. The formulated sanitizer was found better than the most popular sanitizer brand sterillium. Similar finding was reported in a formulation based on the extract of Ocimum sanctum and Eucalyptus globules³¹. The formulated sanitizer was observed to be superior than standard non medicinal plant based sanitizer.

Table 1: Antiviral activities of medicinal plant extract used in various hand sanitizers and spry

Among the various reasons for adding medicinal plant extract in hand sanitizer and spray, the emollient and moisture protecting properties of some plant extract is also an important basis. The overuse use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer and spray adversely affects the skin by removing the oil layer of the applied area. The alcohol-based hand sanitizer and spray having more than sixty percent of alcohol cause dehydration of the skin.³² The dry hand had other complications like aging, effect on the microbiome, etc.³³ Alove vera is a very well known and widely used plant for various skin-related issues. The Alove vera contains mucopolysaccharides, amino acids, zinc, etc. that improve moisture, soften, elasticity, decrease wrinkles and tighten the skin pores.³⁴ Therefore the use of such medicinal plant extract having moisture protecting properties is so necessary.

Conclusion

India is rich in medicinal plant diversity and its utilization is since from the civilization. The extract of the plants is utilized in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, naturopathy, and many other traditional and modern treatment methods. Various plants like giloy, tulsi, dalchini have been already utilized in the improvement of immunity during Covid 19 pandemic. Hand sanitizer and spray have a very important role in disinfecting hands and surfaces to mimic the spread of viruses. A significant number of products have been added extracts of medicinal plants in hand sanitizer and spray in India. The antiviral and dehydration protecting properties are the major reasons behind adding a medicinal plant in hand sanitizer and spray.

Acknowledgement  

The authors are thankful to the officemates, colleagues and relatives for the providing of details about hand sanitizers and spray utilizing by them during Covid-19 pandemic.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest

Funding Sources

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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