The public has made various responses to the outbreak of the coronavirus. In Indonesia, after President Joko Widodo announced the first case of the coronavirus from two residents of Depok, instantly, mask and hand sanitizer became scarce in the market.
Furthermore, the scarcity of these two items makes the price on the market soar. It makes people reluctant to buy. Nevertheless, people no longer need to fret because the hand sanitizer can be made at home.
It was demonstrated by Head of Pharmaceutics Department Faculty of Pharmacy UNAIR Dr. Retno Sari M.Sc., Apt. In her office on Wednesday, March 4, Retno Sari explained that to make hand sanitizers, materials such as alcohol, glycerol as anti-bacterial and moisturizer preventing hands from drying out, and aquadest are needed.
“The composition, alcohol is around 70 per cent, glycerol 15 per cent and the rest is aquadest,” she said.
If we calculate the amount of each, she added, we need 73 milliliters of alcohol, 15 milliliters of glycerol, and 12 milliliters of aquadest. The composition, she continued, will produce 100 milliliters of hand sanitizer.
Regarding how to make it, Retno Sari explained firstly because glycerol is a little thick, it must be diluted first with distilled water. After it turns little gooey, new alcohol is added little by little while stirring gently until all the ingredients come together.
Furthermore, Retno Sari also explained that the results of the mixture can already be used for hand sanitizers. She also said that it can be put in a spray container so it can be carried around easily.
“So just spray it on,” she said. In the end, Retno Sari also mentioned that these materials could be difficult to find in the market as the community has rushed to buy alcohol. However, Retno Sari offered alternative materials that can be used for hand sanitizer, Piper betle Linn leaf extract.
“If you want it easier and more natural, people can use betel leaves for anti-bacterial or hand sanitizer,” he said.
For this reason, Retno Sari also explained how to make hand sanitizers from betel leaves. According to him, betel leaf is roughly chopped and put into a container. Then, take the pan filled with water to bring to a boil. Next, place the container containing the betel leaf on top of the educating water and heat for up to 30 minutes until the betel leaf extract comes out.
“The existing extract does not have to be used all. Take as needed, for example only 10 milliliters and then diluted with water. This solution can already be used as a hand sanitizer and just spray it, ” she concluded.
Source : Unair News
