Evaluation of preservative effectiveness of p-coumaric acid derivatives in aluminium hydroxide gel-USP

Background: Deterioration of pharmaceutical preparations due to growth of microorganisms is a great challenge and need of preservation becomes very important. Literature reports about various problems associated with the existing synthetic preservatives such as development of microbial resistance (in due course of time) and several serious side effects. Aim: The aim of the present study is to find out new preservatives synthesized from natural sources, which may have better efficiency than the existing synthetic preservatives. The derivatives of naturally occurring p-coumaric acid were subjected for their preservative efficacy study. Their preservative efficiency was evaluated and compared with the standard parabens. Materials and Methods: The selected amide, anilide and ester derivatives of p-coumaric acid were subjected to preservative efficacy testing in an official antacid preparation, (aluminium hydroxide gel-USP) against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger as representative challenging microorganisms as per USP 2004 guidelines. Results: The selected derivatives were found to be effective against all selected strains and showed preservative efficacy comparable to that of standard and even better in case E. coli, C. albicans and A. niger. The 8-hydroxy quinoline ester derivative showed better preservative efficacy than standard as well as other derivatives. Conclusion: The newly synthesized p- coumaric acid preservatives were found to be effective in the proposed pharmaceutical preparation (Aluminium Hydroxide Gel - USP). Also, the synthesized preservatives have shown comparative and even better efficacy than the existing parabens and hence they have potential for use in pharmaceutical preparations.