The Use of Catalytic Amounts of Selected Cationic Surfactants in the Design of New Synergistic Preservative Solutions

Preservation using combinations of antibacterial molecules has several advantages, such as reducing the level of usage and broadening their antimicrobial spectrum. More specifically, the use of quaternary ammonium surfactants (QAS)—which are profusely used in hair care products and some are known as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCosmetics (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 2; p. 54
Main Authors Salama, Paul, Gliksberg, Ariel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2021
Subjects
Ammonium
Antimicrobial activity
Antimicrobial agents
Bacteria
Chloride
Cosmetics
Cytotoxicity
Hair
Maltol
Microorganisms
Minimum inhibitory concentration
Polyquaternium
preservation
Preservatives
quaternary ammonium surfactants
Surfactants
Israel
United States > US
China
India
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Summary:Preservation using combinations of antibacterial molecules has several advantages, such as reducing the level of usage and broadening their antimicrobial spectrum. More specifically, the use of quaternary ammonium surfactants (QAS)—which are profusely used in hair care products and some are known as efficient antimicrobial agents—is limited due to some potential cytotoxicity concerns. This study shows that the concentration of some widely used cosmetic preservatives can be decreased when combined with very small quantities of QAS, i.e., Polyquaternium-80 (P-80) and/or Didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC). The antimicrobial activity of their mixtures was first evaluated by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) before and after the addition of QAS. Following up on this finding and targeting an ultimate consumer friendly antimicrobial blend, yet with optimal safety, we chose to utilize the food-grade preservative Maltol as the main natural origin antimicrobial agent mixed with minimum concentrations of QAS to improve its moderate antimicrobial properties. The preservatives were tested for MIC values, challenge tests and synergy using the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI). The antimicrobial efficacy of Maltol was found to be synergistically improved by introducing catalytic amounts of P-80 and/or DDAC.
ISSN:2079-9284
2079-9284
DOI:10.3390/cosmetics8020054