Evaluating the Synergistic Efficacy of Homemade Penta-Herbal Hand Sanitizer against Bioburden

Abstract

Increased resistance against antimicrobial products threatens our lives and demands the use of natural compounds for assessing good hand hygiene. Herbs can be considered as the best choice for hand disinfection. In herbal sciences, synergy is a new approach concerning the phytomedicinal research. The current study was carried out to evaluate the potential of synergistic herbs against the pathogenic organisms. For this purpose, the sanitizer was prepared by using the combination of Penta-herbs along with apple cider vinegar and essential oils. Antimicrobial activity was determined by agar disk diffusion method and agar well diffusion method; good sensitivity was observed against tested microbes owing to sanitize action. Afterwards, sampling was done following hand disinfection according to the European Standard (EN 1500) and the impression of 62 personals were taken on nutrient agar before and after the application of sanitizer. The results demonstrated that after the application of homemade herbal sanitizer, the bacterial load on hands gets reduced by 37% to 83%. Synergistic use of herbs might be considered as a preferable choice as organisms are adapting more and more resistivity against alcohol-based rubs.