Understanding Dandruff: Symptoms and Prevalence

Dandruff is a chronic scalp condition characterized by scaling, itching and redness of the scalp (Zoya, et. al., 2016). It affects almost half of the population at the pre-pubertal age and of any gender and ethnicity. The cause of dandruff varies among individuals, depending on their susceptibility. Naturally, it happens when scalp sheds epidermal cells in huge clusters. Skin of scalp restores itself about once per month.

Other, causes of dandruff according to Narshana and Ravikuamar (2018) can be classified into- microbial factors such as fungi (Malassezia furfur) and bacteria/s (in Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus Epidermidis) and non-microbial factors such as: damage to the scalp scratum corneum; individual susceptibility to oleic acid; dry scalp; oily or irritated skin; dirt accumulation due to less frequent shampooing; sensitivity to hair cosmetics; and other scalp conditions like psoriasis, eczema, etc.

Shampoo's pH level

The purpose of shampoo is for hair treatment to remove dirt, grease and debris from the hair and scalp; it also keeps the natural gloss of the hair and makes it fragrant, soft and manageable; additional functions of shampoos are lubrication, conditioning and provides management of various hair scalp disorder (D'Souza & Rathi, 2015; Zoya et al.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Health

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

, 2016; Reddy et al., 2016). Shampoos are commonly acidic because of the physical nature of the hair. The pH level of hair fiber is 3.67. Shampoos or other hair cleansing products must not have a pH of higher than 5.5, which also the scalp's pH (D'Souza & Rathi, 2015), they also must range between the pH 5-7 with water being neutral at 7 (Norales, 2017).

Mangifera indica L. var. Carabao

The Carabao mango is a delicious variety native to the Philippines described by its semielliptical shape and light green color that turns yellow as the fruit ripens. The Philippine Carabao mango was recorded in the 1995 Guinness Book of World Records as the sweetest fruit in the world overcoming different nations that additionally produce tropical mangoes. Philippine Statistics Authority (2018) reported that an increase of 0.5 percent in mango production was recorded during the fourth quarter of 2018, reaching the level of 27.62 thousand metric tons. Carabao variety with 22.56 thousand metric tons production during the period contributed the largest share of 81.7 percent to the total mango production.

Bulacan province produces a total of 8,659 thousand metric tons mango as of 2018. Bulakan, Bulacan on other hand still produces mango for private and commercial uses only. With a total of 4,884 trees in the area which composed of 2,504 carabao, 1,369 pico and 1,011 indian mango and other variety according to the data of Bulacan Agricultural Office (2018).

Mango Kernel Oil (MKO)

MKO is an edible oil that finds its application in the cosmetic industry, pharmaceutical industry, and food and confectionery industry due to its high stability and high presence of antioxidants (Sikdar et al., 2017). Up to 3% to 12% of MKO is generally used in manufacturing companies of mango-based lotions, creams, balms, soaps and hair conditioners. Mango seed oil can be turned into a high value product which can be used in the cosmetics industry (Casas, et al., 2015).

According to Mariod, Mirghani, and Hussein (2017), the Mango Kernel were found to contain about 10% of oil in average. The phenolic compounds in MKO is 0.88 mg/mL gallic acid, and it is rich in oleic acid C18:1. It also showed the presence of lauric acid (dodecanoic acid) C12:0 which has an antimicrobial activities. The major fatty acids of the triacylglycrol was oleic acid (44.89%) and Stearic acid (36.57%). The amounts of minor fatty acids composition were 10.06% Palmitic acid, 6.00% Linoleic acid, and 2.48 % of Linolenic acid (Abdelaziz, 2018).

Nadeem et al. (2016) reviews the features of MKO that it contains about 15% good quality edible oil and palmitic, stearic and oleic acids are the major fatty acids with 32-36 °C melting point which is solid at room temperature. Mas'ud et al. (2018) extracted MKO through multistage extraction with hexane (1st stage) and found out that oleic, stearic, linoleic and palmitic acids were dominant.

MKO is stable, melt at skin temperature, have good lubricity and great source of essential fatty acids that is good to the human body; including hair benefits and scalp care such as anti-dandruff. Thus, it could be used as highly moisturizing, cleansing, and nourishing oil because of high oleic acid content (Mariod et al., 2017). It can eliminate and prevent dandruff by moisturizing the scalp, repair damage follicles and thereby support hair growth. It also control water loss in your strands while making your hair softer and more pliable (Perkins, 2014). Oleic acid certainly can help soften flakes. When apply on the scalp it help lessen the itching and inflammation associated with dandruff (Lagadien, 2018). These makes MKO ideal for use in cosmetics, such as skin care massage, haircare, soap, and shampoo products.

MKO extraction. Most seeds are dried before extracting its oil. Wherein most dehydrated products in food processing industries such as fruits and vegetables are still prepared by air drying method since air drying was found to give the best in general outcomes, in view of water removal rates and general authority over the drying procedure (Mercer, 2012; Barrozo et al., 2015; & Banerjee et al., 2016).

MKO can be extracted using hydraulic press, solvent extraction, and Soxhlet extraction (Sikdar et al., 2017). Wherein Soxhlet extraction (See fig. 1) is one of the most frequently used standard pretreatment techniques in extracting seed oils. The Soxhlet apparatus comprises of a three necked round base flask, the extractor, a vertical condenser, a basket heater, a water recycling pump and a thimble that is connected into the extractor part of the apparatus. The solid sample is placed in a cellulose or fiber glass porous holder called a thimble; the solvent is placed in the round base flask. Using a heating mantle around the flask, the solvent is vaporized, condensed, and drips or washes back down over the sample. Soluble analytes are separated and directed again into the round base flask. The extracted analyte concentrates in the round base flask.

The advantage of conventional Soxhlet is the sample is repeatedly brought into contact with the fresh portions of the solvent, thereby helping to displace the transfer equilibrium (Subramanian et al., 2016). There is a wide variety of official methods involving a sample preparation step based on Soxhlet extraction. It is a general, well-established technique which clearly surpasses in performance the other conventional extraction techniques.