Developing herbal based liquid sanitizer to maintain personal and environmental hygiene as a disaster resilience

Abstract

It is common to experience an outbreak of infectious disease caused by common pathogens due to the prevalence of a poor hygienic environment after natural disasters. Development of an organic based herbal sanitizer is a viable option to overcome such outbreaks. Sri Lanka is rich in plant species comprised with secondary metabolites proved to consist of in vitro antimicrobial properties. Acmella, Turmeric, Cinnamon and Lemon are some of the potential medicinal plants with antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal constituents which could be used to develop liquid sanitizer against common pathogens. Thus this liquid sanitizer can be used in the occasions of washing hands, cleaning food processing areas, in preparation and consumption of food etc. Herbal extract based sanitizing liquid which is highly safe, efficient, convenient and cost effective could be used to mitigate disasters by ensuring personal and environmental hygiene.