Green Extraction, Isolation and characterization of Glucomannan from Aloe vera plant for use in formulation of facial mask

Abstract

A bioactive polysaccharide (glucomannan), which has broad applications in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, was successfully extracted and isolated from Aloe vera gel and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Commercial glucomannan purchased from Propol capsules was used as a reference standard. The FTIR spectrum of the extracted sample revealed polysaccharide absorption bands in the vicinity of 3200–3500 cm⁻¹ corresponding to O–H stretching vibrations, 2900 cm⁻¹ for C–H stretching vibrations of aliphatic carbon, 1600–1650 cm⁻¹ assigned to carbonyl (C=O) stretching vibrations and absorbed water molecules, 1000–1150 cm⁻¹ for C–O–C and glycosidic bond stretching vibrations. The extracted glucomannan exhibited a very high ATR spectral matching coefficient of 0.999 with the commercial standard, confirming that the backbone structure of β-(1→4)-linked mannose and glucose is preserved. The successful extraction and purification of glucomannan was also confirmed by HPLC characterization at 254 nm. The standard glucomannan gave a high peak at ΔtR 2.592 min with peak area 63,169 and peak height 6661 μV, whereas the Aloe vera extract had a large peak at ΔtR 2.589 min, peak area 17,669, which accounted for 29.31% of the total integrated area and peak height of 30.61% of the total peak height. The principal glucomannan peak was obtained after isolation and purification, with ΔtR = 2.588 min, peak area = 17,996 and peak height = 2672 μV, corresponding to 29.95% of the total peak area and 30.03% of the peak height. Secondary characteristic peaks at 2.710, 2.842 and 2.956 min were close to the standard chromatographic profile, and minor downstream peaks between 3.138–4.015 min were the naturally occurring low molecular weight saccharide fractions. Results from FTIR along with HPLC analysis showed that the extraction and isolation process was successful in recovering the structurally intact glucomannan from Aloe vera gel with minor degradation of the polymeric backbone. The results obtained indicate that the Aloe vera extract contains glucomannan with significant potential application in pharmaceutical, biomedical, nutraceutical, and cosmetic formulations, such as the development of a facial mask to improve viscosity, hydration, stimula-tion of collagen, and anti-ageing performance.