Utilization of agar Gracilaria sp. as a natural thickener on liquid bath soap formulation

Abstract

Agar Gracilaria sp. is potential seaweed in Indonesia with largely opportunity to be used as raw material for cosmetics, especially skincare creams, lotions, powder, lipstick, facial makeup, and soap. Liquid bath soap is one of the cosmetics that require thickener in the composition, which often generally uses carcinogenic cocamide DEA. On the other hand, agar Gracilaria sp. has a gelling agent capable of having a thickening effect on certain products such as liquid bath soap. This study aimed to determine the potential of agar Gracilaria sp. as a thickener agent in liquid bath soap as a cocamide DEA substitute. This study used agar Gracilaria sp. with a percentage of 0, 1, 2% and 1% cocamide DEA. Parameters determined were the viscosity, pH, specific gravity, microbial contamination, and organoleptic. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan test, while organoleptic data analysis used the Kruskal Wallis test. The study results showed that the addition of 1% Gracilaria sp. agar had 762.22 cPs viscosity, pH 9.06, 1.05 g/ml specific gravity, and <1x101 colonies/ml microbial contamination.