Development and Standardization of Toothpaste Incorporating Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract

Abstract

Dental hygiene is an important aspect to control oral infections such as tooth decay and gum diseases.
And in novel dentistry, herbal toothpaste is more acceptable and safer with minimum side effects
over synthetic preparation. The current study was envisioned to formulate herbal toothpaste by
incorporating the leaf extract of Moringa oleifera and standardizing it as per the Sri Lankan standard
requirements. The toothpaste base formulation was optimized and incorporated with M. oleifera leaf
extract to develop the Moringa toothpaste. The net mass and extrusive content, consistency,
cohesiveness, stability, tube inertness, moisture content, and volatile matter, pH of the Moringa
toothpaste were determined to standardize the formulated toothpaste as per the requirement of SLS
Standard (275:2014). The anti-bacterial efficacy of Moringa toothpaste was evaluated against
Staphylococcus aureus, an oral pathogenic bacterium. The contents of elements present in the M.
oleifera leaf powder that are known to improve oral health including Ca, K, and Mg were also
determined. The leaf extract percentage was selected as 5% (w/w) to be incorporated into the
optimized toothpaste base formulation. The formulated herbal toothpaste complied with the
requirements of SLS Standard (275:2014) indicating acceptable net mass (23.6 g), extrusive content
(49.96%), consistency (present), cohesiveness (passed), stability (stable formulation), moisture, and
volatile matter content (43.16%) and pH (6.26). In an antibacterial assay, the Moringa toothpaste
showed a significant zone of inhibition of 2±0.029 cm indicating its antibacterial potential against S.
aureus to provide tooth and oral hygiene and to prevent various dental diseases. The contents of Ca,
Mg, and K were found as 0.6%, 1.7%, and 0.14% respectively. The formulation development and
standardization of M. oleifera based herbal toothpaste, having the potential to improve oral health is
reported for the first time through this study. This new product can be introduced as an innovative
approach to incorporate plants like M. oleifera in oral care products.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Evaluation, Moringa toothpaste, Moringa oleifera leaf powder, Standardization