## 3 Results
### Texture Analysis Parameters  
Texture profile analysis is a means of assessing the mechanical properties of the polymers examined and their response to external pressure. The texture profile is described by textural parameters such as hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, compressibility, and elasticity. Hardness is specified as the strength needed to cause a deformity. Specimens with greater hardness have poorer spreadability. Adhesiveness expresses the ability of the  
Figure 4: Flow curves hysteresis for hydrogel: (**A**) F-AA, F-CA, F-MA; (**B**) F-AB, F-CB, F-MB F-AA (SA; quercetin 0.4%), F-AB (SA; quercetin 0.7%), F-CA (CMC, quercetin 0.4%), F-CB (CMC, quercetin 0.7%), F-MA (MC, quercetin 0.4%), F-MB (MC, quercetin 0.7%). test surface to bond with the probe surface. It allows the length of time the product will remain at the point of distribution--that is, on the skin--to be predicted [66]. Cohesion is evaluated as the relationship between the areas under the curve obtained in the first and second compression cycles. This value represents the inherent bond of load that must be defeated to distribute the product on the skin's surface. Compressibility is the work needed to distort the test specimen in the first squeezing cycle and represents the preservation of the formulation after the compressive load is taken away. Based on [PERSON] et al. [67], this value is associated with the elasticity of the specimen's [66]. The texture profiles and texture profile parameters obtained for the examined samples are shown in Figure 5 and Table 5.  
Figure 5: Texture profile analysis (TPA) in two compression/extension cycles of prepared hydrogel. F-AA (SA; quercetin 0.4%), F-AB (SA; quercetin 0.7%), F-CA (CMC, quercetin 0.4%), F-CB (CMC, quercetin 0.7%), F-MA (MC, quercetin 0.4%), F-MB (MC, quercetin 0.7%). In addition, it is evident that the type of polymer used in the developed formulation affected the resistance of the projected hydrogels. The highest hardness among hydrogels containing a lower concentration of quercetin was determined for the CMC-based hydrogel to be 0.0575 \(\pm\) 0.001, while the lowest for the MC-based hydrogel was 0.0505 \(\pm\) 0.002. A slightly higher hardness than MC was observed for the SA-based hydrogel at 0.0520 \(\pm\) 0.001. For hydrogels containing a higher concentration of quercetin, CMC-based and MC-based hydrogels showed similar hardnesses of 0.0645 \(\pm\) 0.003 F-CB and 0.0640 \(\pm\) 0.003 F-MB, respectively, while those based on SA were about 1.2 times lower (0.0545 \(\pm\) 0.001). In all formulations, increasing the concentration of quercetin resulted in an increase in hardness, to the greatest extent for MC--about 1.3 times. The formulation containing CMC also showed the highest elasticity: 0.868 \(\pm\) 0.065 (lower quercetin concentration) and 0.816 \(\pm\) 0.034 (higher quercetin concentration). Meanwhile, the formulation containing MC showed the lowest elasticity. In this formulation, quercetin concentration did not affect the change in elasticity. Inversely to the hardness at a lower quercetin concentration, the lowest cohesion value was observed for hydrogels with CMC (1.314 \(\pm\) 0.116), as well as the lowest adhesion (0.100 \(\pm\) 0.000). This confirmed the results obtained from the sensory evaluation of semi-solid formulations, in which CMC-based hydrogels had the lowest stickiness and adhesion. MC-containing hydrogels had the highest cohesiveness, although higher concentrations of quercetin slightly worsened their cohesiveness (by about 1.3-fold). Higher and similar adhesion was observed in ALG and MC-based formulations, while lower adhesion was shown for CMC. Increasing the concentration of quercetin significantly increased the adhesion of the MC-containing hydrogel (by about 1.7-fold), while the adhesion parameter was not affected in ALG- and CMC-based hydrogels.