Ma. Lourdes Betty E. Ochate^1,, Kristel Jane C. Castro¹, Janna Maegan M. Arellano¹, Vince Adolf O. Balagonsa¹, Ian Jay P. Saldo¹, Mary Jade P. Dandoy¹

Pomelo (Citrus maxima) has been noticed for its antibacterial activity due to the presence of flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids, all of which have the potential human health benefits. This study aimed to formulate an antibacterial liquid hand soap made of pomelo (C. maxima) peel extract and evaluate its antibacterial potential. This study utilized a quantitative research design to determine the estimated number of colony-forming units and compare if there is a significant difference before and after using the liquid hand soaps. The antibacterial potential of the hand soap was measured using the standard plate count method. Also, a product evaluation of the formulated liquid hand soap was done using an adapted five-point Likert scale questionnaire. Results revealed a noticeable decrease in the estimated number of colony-forming units after using the hand soaps. Furthermore, mixed measures factorial ANOVA gave a p-value of 0.265, which means no significant difference in the bacterial count between the two liquid hand soaps, as it is greater than the 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, the pomelo (C. maxima) peel extract and commercial liquid hand soap exhibited antibacterial activity in terms of their bacterial count by the standard plate count test. Moreover, the results for the product evaluation showed that between the two liquid hand soaps, the pomelo (C. maxima) peel extract liquid hand soap resulted in a higher average mean for the senior high school and college students and employees' perceptions than the commercial liquid hand soap. However, more research is needed to improve the concentration of the pomelo (C. maxima) peel crude extract to achieve better and more comprehensive results for commercial use.

antibacterial activity, bacterial count, liquid hand soap, pomelo (C. maxima) peel extract, product evaluation