Dr. Abdul Karim Zulkarnain has been installed as a professor of physical pharmacy and biopharmaceutics at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
The Head of the Physical Pharmacy Laboratory was officially inducted at the UGM Senate Hall on Tuesday, October 31, delivering a speech titled “The Role of Physical Pharmacy in Developing Natural Materials as Cosmetic Resources.”
Professor Zulkarnain highlighted that cosmetics have been used for centuries and are well-known in society.
Research and investigation in anthropology, archeology, and ethnology in Egypt and India have evidenced the use of compounds such as embalming agents and aromatic ointments, considered the early forms of cosmetics recognized today.
“This demonstrates the evolution of cosmetics at that time. Since the 19th century, cosmetics started gaining attention, not only for beauty but also for health,” stated the newly promoted professor.
He expressed that the stability of cosmetic preparations is a critical criterion for a high-quality end product. If a preparation is unstable, its efficacy may be reduced or even lost. Moreover, it may become toxic or change appearance (color, odor, taste, and consistency).
Changes in physical and chemical properties can detect the instability of a pharmaceutical preparation, and the decrease in content during storage can determine its stability.
Environmental factors such as temperature, light radiation, and air, especially oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor, affect stability.
“Similarly, formulation factors such as particle size, pH, the nature of water, and solvent properties can affect stability. Hence, stability can be defined as the ability of a product to maintain its properties and characteristics within specified limits throughout the storage and usage period,” said the spouse of Professor Mae Sri Hartati Wahyuningsih.
Professor Zulkarnain mentioned that Indonesia’s biodiversity can be utilized as raw materials for cosmetic preparations, and many beauty products now use natural ingredients.
Numerous beauty brands globally have started introducing beauty products with natural ingredients like aloe vera, green tea, chamomile, and others.
As time progresses and knowledge about natural materials advances, modern cosmetic preparations like creams, gels, and other combinations of various components have been formulated to ensure stability in the pharmaceutical industry.
According to him, the exploration of natural resources as cosmetic raw materials can be studied from various perspectives, such as skincare, sunscreen, or antioxidants.
“Several research examples have been conducted exploring natural resources as cosmetic raw materials, like the study of yam starch formulated in compact powder preparations,” he added.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photographer: Firsto