The effectiveness of hand sanitizer gel from hibiscus leaves and lime peel waste as an antimicrobial preparation

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of hand sanitizer gel from hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus L) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) waste as antimicrobial preparations. This study focused on observing the inhibition zone of hibiscus leaves extract on Staphylococcus aureus, the irritating effect, and the best hand sanitizer characteristics of hibiscus leaves extract and lime peel extract. This study was arranged in a non-factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 6 levels of concentration of hibiscus leaves extract: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. And the content of lime peel extract is 0.63% with 4 repetitions. The similarity of the data was tested by the Bartlett test and additional data was tested by the Tuckey test. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA test) and if there was a difference, it was continued with the BNT test with a significance level of 5%. The results of this study showed that the concentration of hibiscus leaves extract had a significant effect on the zone of inhibition, pH, and the dispersion of hand sanitizer. It was revealed that the best treatment was using a concentration of hibiscus leaves of 25% (W5) and lime peel extract of 0.63%, which resulted in an inhibition of 16.18 mm on Staphylococcus aureus; no irritation (no rash) was found; pH 6.1; homogeneous gel; and the gel dispersion was 6.4 cm.