Development of cream formulation with Agarwood essence using Taguchi design of experiment method

The main ingredient in this study is Agarwood essence. Agarwood essence is a precious oil extracted from Aquilaria trees' resinous heartwood, prized for its rich, woody scent. It's used in perfumery, incense, and traditional medicine for its complex aroma and perceived therapeutic benefits. Taguchi's design of the experiment method focuses on the development of the optimal cream formulation to highlight its distinctive quality through the use of Agarwood essence combined with camphor by using Taguchi method. Taguchi method is applied to optimize the performance of a product by identifying its optimal combination factor that leads to a desirable outcome. This implies that it can analyze the factors influencing the cream's performance to determine the optimal formulation. It is also used in quantifying the relationship between the signal (desired performance) and the noise (undesired performance). The factor that most influences signal-to-noise is water. By using a structured, efficient process for experimenting with design changes, the Taguchi method identifies the most influential factors affecting the quality of appearance, texture, aroma, and colour. Then, it follows with the Hedonic Test. A hedonic test is a sensory evaluation method used to measure consumer preferences or acceptance of a product based on its sensory attributes, such as taste, aroma, texture, or appearance. It involves presenting participants with samples of the product and asking them to rate their liking or preference using a scale, often ranging from dislike to like very much. This test helps companies understand consumer preferences and make decisions about product development, reformulation, or marketing strategies. This enables manufacturers or researchers to optimize processes or product designs, achieving consistent, high-quality outcomes with reduced development time and costs. In this study, the parameters are the type of base oil, the type of wax, the quantity of water used, and the use of camphor, preservatives, and alcohol. For moisture, the desirable amount is between 50 to 80, for viscosity is between 3 to 15, and for pH is 6. Based on this the good formulation falls on Sample 7. The Hedonic test also shows that the desirable sample is sample 7. The factor that most affected the cream is water followed by wax. In conclusion, the outcome of this study is to develop a cream formulation with Agarwood essence using the Taguchi method.