Determination of herbal combinations based on mucoadhesive properties

Abstract

Mucoadhesive properties of herbs are the herb’s ability to strongly interact or penetrate in binding to mucin components in the mucus. The oral preparation of polyherbal made for therapeutic purposes must have a mucoadhesive capability. This in vitro study aims to determine herbal combinations that have a potential stable interaction with MUC2. The screening of 10 herbal namely, a flower of tembelekan (Lantana camara), rosela (Hibiscus sabdariffa), and asam jawa (Tamarindus indica); rind of jeruk nipis (Citrus aurantifolia); leaf of sirih merah (Piper crocatum), kelor (Moringa oleifera), and meniran hijau (Phyllanthus niruri); rhizome of kencur (Kaempferia galanga), temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza), and jahe (Zingiber officinale) based on the changes in MUC2 viscosity, interaction percentage and absorption percentage. Kencur, rosela, kelor, and meniran hijau maintains the viscosity. Therefore, the interaction process occurs without significantly changing the physicochemical properties of the mucin. While the other herbs, especially jeruk nipis, tembelekan dan asam jawa, caused an increased viscosity of MUC2. Kencur or temulawak can also reduce the possibility of asam jawa changing the viscosity of mucin. Based on these results, we recommend kencur-temulawak mix or kencur-asam jawa mix as a polyherbal because both have a positive interaction percentage value that indicates an additional percentage of precipitated mucin compared to pure mucin (MUC2).