Current Methods for the Discovery of New Active Ingredients from Natural Products for Cosmeceutical Applications

Abstract

Cosmeceuticals are designed to serve a dual purpose: to provide desired esthetical effects and to treat dermatological conditions. Natural products derived from plants and marine organisms are a novel source of potential cosmeceutical active ingredients for incorporation into new formulations due to consumer demands. Contrary to common perceptions, most regulatory agencies do not view cosmeceuticals as being a separate category from cosmetics; thus, these products are not regulated accordingly, thereby forcing the consumer to rely on the self-regulatory policies of the cosmetics industry. Cosmeceuticals are advertised as having capabilities that include anti-aging, anti-acne, solar-protective, wound healing, and skin whitening. Such traits normally comprise several biological activities. In order to ensure the safety and efficacy of these products, active ingredients employed in the formulations must undergo a series of tests. In this review, in vitro (enzymatic and cellular) and in vivo tests employed to evaluate the potential of new cosmeceutical active ingredients are discussed, and new trends that are being explored by the cosmeceutical industry are described.

Traditional Asian Herbs in Skin Whitening: The Current Development and Limitations

“…Though studies provide a basic guarantee for whitening effects and safety of many Asian herbs, there are still a lot of issues to be addressed before they transformed into products. The problems come from several aspects, for example, many natural ingredients are unstable and only show mild effects, the limitations of research methods are also a tough issue (Bent and Ko, 2004;Efferth, 2017;Espinosa-Leal and Garcia-Lara, 2019). It's not just that, we need to know the potential obstacles to the application of Asian herbs in skin whitening.…”

Plant In Vitro Systems as a Sustainable Source of Active Ingredients for Cosmeceutical Application

“…These ingredients are still preferred to be extracted from natural sources, such as herbal or medicinal plants [2]. This strategy led to the appearance of a new term, "cosmeceutical", used to describe a hybrid substance designed to serve as a dual purpose: provide desired esthetical effect (as a cosmetic) and to treat dermatological conditions (as a pharmaceutical) [3]. The same compounds, which protect plants from environmental stresses, such as salinity, UV, drought and extreme temperature amplitudes, can have similar protective effects on human skin, via the activation of basic protective signaling mechanisms conserved in the eukaryotic cells [4].…”

“…At present the cosmetic industry accounts for 412 billion Euro in annual sales, of which Japan has the biggest market value of about 5.6-7.4 billion Euro, followed by USA of approximately 4.6-5.6 billion Euro and EU with 2.8-4.6 billion Euro, making it highly desirable and competitive field [3,5]. For instance, the global market of anthocyanins is expected to reach 358.7 million Euro in 2021 [8], while that of carotenoids (1.38 billion Euro in 2017) has a forecast peak of 1.85 billion Euro in 2022.…”

Renewable sources: applications in personal care formulations

“…The guidelines used for cosmetics can be employed to test the safety of these ingredients according to the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS), as well . Changes in legislation, specifically in the European Union, have encouraged the creation of in vitro tests so as to evaluate the safety of cosmetic ingredients, since the use of animal tests was prohibited in Europe in 2004 for cosmetics and in 2009 for cosmetic ingredients .…”