INITIAL INVESTIGATION ON ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND TOXICITY OF TRADITIONALLY FERMENTED RICE AND MOISTURIZER FORMULATIONS FOR COSMETIC APPLICATION

Abstract

"Rice powder," is a Malaysia traditional green skincare remedy historically used for facial care. It's environmentally friendly due to its reliance on rice and water for fermentation, eliminating the need for additional chemicals. The fermentation begins by soaking the rice in water at a 1:1 ratio, with the water refreshed every 14 days over an 84-day period, involving 6 cycles of water changes. The fermented rice powder and soaking water were filtered using a 3-stage filtration steps (muslin cloth, 0.45 and 0.2 µm filter paper) and consequently tested for antioxidants (FRAP, DPPH and TPC) tests. Samples were also tested for toxicity (MTT test) on V79-4 cells. Antioxidant values for rice water were found to be below the standard for cosmetic application, ranging from 1.22, 24.45 and 12.65 for FRAP, DPPH and TPC respectively at concentration 100% (v/v). For fermented rice powder the values are 0.997, 14.6 and 520.15 at 2mg/ml concentration. For 3 moisturizer formulations tested, antioxidant values found to be similar at 0.94, 23.65 and 514.76. Both rice powder and formulations used showed high TPC values. The MTT assay showed that rice water had toxic effects, reducing cell viability from 100% to 4% at concentrations from 1.564 v/v to 50% v/v. In contrast, fermented rice powder showed no toxic effects and even increased cell viability slightly from 100 to 110% as its concentration increased from 0.063 mg/ml to 2 mg/ml. Similar pattern of toxicity were observed by 3 formulations tested indicating its potential for modern cosmetic application.