UTILIZATION OF CITRONELLA HYDROSOL AS A DISINFECTANT PRODUCT WITH THE ADDITION OF PATCHOULI OIL AS A FIXATIVE COMPOUNDS

Abstract

Hydrosol is a byproduct of the distillation process of citronella oil, which serves as an aromatic water with antibacterial activity. Citronella hydrosol has the potential to be used as a disinfectant because it can reduce the excessive use of alcohol, and producing an environmentally friendly disinfectant. This research aims to determine the best formulation in the production of disinfectant from citronella hydrosol with the addition of patchouli oil as fixative compound, based on total microbial, antibacterial activity, and organoleptic test. The methods used are 1) descriptive for total microbial and antibacterial activity, and 2) quantitative for the organoleptic tests with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and follow-up tests if significant difference are found. The research show that the best formulation is F2 (40% hydrosol, 20% distilled water, 30% alcohol antiseptic, 9% patchouli oil, and 1% surfactant). Formulation F2 has a Total Plate Count (TPC) value in the range of 0.3 x 10⁴ CFU/mL – 0.9 x 10⁴ CFU/mL and an inhibition zone for antibacterial activity of 20 mm for Escherichia coli and 15.8 mm for Staphylococcus aureus, classified as strong. These results show that the disinfectant is capable of reducing total microorganism growth. The organoleptic test of formulation F2 showed thr results for color, aroma, and overall acceptance of 5.76, 4.84, and 5.16, respectively, with a neutral to like moderately.

Keywords:
antibacterial activity, disinfectant, hydrosol, patchouli oil, Total Plate Count (TPC)