Formulation and Evaluation of Cashew Leaf Extract Ointment for Wound Healing Activity

Abstract

The present study was designing, formulating and evaluating a herbal ointment containing of ethanolic extracts of the Anacardium occidentale leaves. However, there were no scientific reports documented so far on the wound healing activities of this plant. Thus, the present study provides a scientific evaluation for the wound healing potential of the crude extract of Anacardium occidentale (Cashew Plant) leaves. The proposed herbal ointment was evaluated with different parameters like pH, viscosity, spreadability and stability were evaluated. The formulation showed good spread ability, good consistency, homogeneity, there was no change in the appearance, pH, and no phase separation noticed at the end of the stability studies. There was no evidence of skin irritation. This study has revealed that the herbal ointment has shown the wound healing effect due to the synergistic activity of the phytoconstituents present in the extracts and may be used a potential herbal formulation for wound healing. The parameters evaluated for wound healing were period of contraction and tensile strength using excision and incision models. The animals were divided into groups and were treated with herbal ointment, standard group and one served as control group. Nitrofurazone (0.2% w/w) was used as reference standard. These results demonstrate that the crude extract of Anacardium occidentale (Cashew Plant) leaves possesses wound healing activities. This justifies the traditional claimed use of the plant for treating uninfected and infected wounds.