FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF LYCOPENE EMULGEL A. Kumari* 1 , Aniket Singh, S . S. Saurabh 1 , K . S. Rathore 2 , R . Issara ni 1

The present work was carried out with the grail of formulating a gel lified emulsion of lycopene, an anti - oxidative agent. The distinctive feature of topical drug delivery system is the direct accessibility of the skin as a target organ for diagnosis and treatment. Emulgels have emerged as one of the most prevailing drug de livery systems for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs owing to their dual control release system i.e. gel and emulsion. Lycopene, as a natural source of anti - oxidants, has enamoured attention due to its biological and physicochemical properties. It is compl etely insoluble in water, so to overcome this limitation, an emulsion based approach was being used so that even this hydrophobic moiety can enjoy the unique property of gels. Lycopene, an anti - oxidative agent, has been used in the treatment of various oxi dative diseases. This pigment protects the cells against damage from the free radicals formed when body cells burn oxygen for energy. In order to decrease the oxidative reactions with skin i.e. to treat acne vulgaris, lycopene emulgel was developed. This w ork was conducted to develop an emulgel of lycopene using three different gelling agents i.e. Carbopol 934P, HPMC LV - 15 and NaCMC. Oleic acid was used as a penetration enhancer. The gellified emulsions were characterized for their physical appearance, rheo logy, spreadability, drug content and stability. In - vitro release studies were conducted to check the drug release through egg membrane. The formulations were evaluated for their antioxidant activity as well as their acute skin irritation potential. Formul ation F1 was found to have fallen within the stipulated criteria of all the evaluation parameters. Hence, it was concluded that formulation F1, containing carbopol 934P (1% w/w), was the optimized formulation. It exhibited the maximum drug release and anti oxidant activity, in addition to the least skin irritation potential. Keywords: Lycopene, Emulgel, Gelling agents, Anti - oxidant, gellified emulsion.