Anti-Aging Effectiveness of Avocado Peel Extract Ointment (Persea americana Mill.) against Hydration, Collagen, and Elasticity Levels in Wistar Rat

Abstract

The skin is a complex organ that protects the body from the external environment. The skin has a variety of functions such as providing a physical permeability barrier, protection from infectious agents, thermoregulation, sensation, protection against ultraviolet (UV) rays, regeneration, and wound healing. Clinically, aging skin is characterized by loss of hydration, rough texture, irregular pigmentation, yellowish discoloration, telangiectasia, deep wrinkles or wrinkles, thinning of the skin, and fine lines. One of the plants that can be used as natural ingredients that are rich in antioxidants and interesting to study is avocado (Persea americana Mill.) from the Lauraceae family, which is a plant that has medicinal properties and contains a variety of nutrients. Besides being consumed as food, avocados are also used as a mixture of cosmetic products. This study aims to assess the anti-aging effectiveness of avocado peel extract on increasing collagen levels, elasticity, and hydration in male rats. A total of 25 rats were divided into 5 groups, each group consisting of 5 white rats; control group (ointment base), avocado peel extract ointment group 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. The entire group of rats will be measured the condition before treatment with the Skin Analyzer EH 900 U including levels of collagen, elasticity, and hydration. After measuring the initial skin condition, the treatment was started by applying ointment until it was evenly distributed over the marked area, the ointment was applied according to the groups that have been set above, the application was carried out 2 times a day for 4 weeks. Changes in skin condition were measured weekly for 4 weeks using the EH 900 U skin analyzer. The results of this study indicate that the methanol extract of avocado peel contains phytochemicals in the form of alkaloids, tannins, phenols, flavonoids, and glycosides. Then the phenolic, flavonoid, and tannin content of the avocado peel methanol extract was 59.55 GAE mg/gram extract, 2.96 QE mg/gram extract, and 22.63 TAE mg/gram extract. After 4 weeks of treatment, there was a significant change in the level of hydration, collagen, and skin elasticity (p<0.05) in all treatment groups, this can be seen from the P-value <0.05, with the group of rats receiving the highest concentration of ointment (10%) showed the highest average, namely hydration 49.60%, collagen 40.20%, and elasticity 68.20%. Changes in hydration levels, collagen, and skin elasticity before and after treatment also showed significant changes (P-value < 0.05) with the highest changes found at a concentration of 10%, namely hydration 88.40%, collagen 60.0%, and elasticity 68.20%. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that administration of avocado peel extract ointment could increase hydration, collagen, and skin elasticity levels compared to controls groups, positively correlated with the increase of the duration and the quantity of avocado peel extract ointment were given. The best formulation that gives the most significant effect is 10% avocado peel extract ointment by increasing levels of hydration, collagen, and elasticity the most significantly.