Sun Screen Efficacy of Punica granatum (Pomegranate) and Citrullus colocynthis (Indrayani) Seed Oils

Abstract

With increasing awareness about skin cancer and its relation to UV radiation, there is much focus on sunscreen agents and products. Sunscreens provide protection by absorbing, reflecting and / or scattering the radiation. Sunscreens are rated according to their effectiveness by sun protection factor (SPF). The present study evaluates ultraviolet (UV) absorption ability of Citrullus colocynthis (Bitter Apple, Indrayani) seed oil, Punica granatum (Pomegranate) seed oil and few other vegetable fixed oils. The in-vitro SPF is determined according to the spectrophotometric method of Mansur et al. The UV absorbances of alcoholic solutions of the oils were studied by UV spectrophotometer in the range of 290 nm to 320 nm at 5 nm increments. The in-vitro test results show that Pomegranate seed oil shows an SPF at par with synthetic sunscreens at 1.0 % level, with Indrayani seed oil following closely.

Innovative Skin Product Emulsions with Enhanced Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and UV Protection Properties Containing Nanoparticles of Pure and Modified Chitosan with Encapsulated Fresh Pomegranate Juice

“…The addition of encapsulated PJ nanoparticles certainly contributes to this high SPF values and similar findings have been reported in literature. Ranjithkumar et al, studied the effect of pomegranate seed oil on the protection of the skin from the UV exposure and results indicated sufficiently SPF ability of the pomegranate oil [ 78 ]. Furthermore, Afaq et al, confirmed the photochemopreventive effect of the pomegranate derived products [ 79 ] while in a recent study it was reported that pomegranate extract and pomegranate juice consumption resulted in an increase in skin protection to UVB exposure [ 80 ].…”

Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Properties of Plant Extract from Dry Flowers as Functional Dyes for Cosmetic Products

“…Anthocyanins are the group of bioactive substances that are indicated as strongest natural UV filters [ 63 , 64 , 65 ]. Extracts rich in plant dyes can therefore be effective natural sunscreens [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. Sun protection factors (SPF) analysis was carried out for the obtained extracts at the concentrations of 10 and 50 mg/mL.…”

“…Ranjithkumar et al showed that Pomegranate seed oil has a strong ability to absorb the UV radiation at the level of synthetic sunscreens (SPF ca. 20) and pomegranate fruit and peel extracts prepared in methanol may act as UV boosters, increasing the SPF value of the synthetic and mineral UV filters [ 66 ]. Westfall et al showed that lipsticks pigmented by naturally derived anthocyanins achieve a SPF higher than 15 [ 64 ].…”

The real UVB photoprotective efficacy of vegetable oils: in vitro and in vivo studies

“…The authors found that, e.g., avocado oil performed the SPF value of only 0.03 at a concentration of 0.05%, which is even less than in our study (SPF 0.08 at 0.02%). Souza et al [19] used the method of Mansur to study the opuntia seed oil as a promising UVB protector and showed that the oil provided no SPF at a reference concentration of 0.2 mg mL −1 [19]. Wagemaker et al [40] performed a comprehensive study on the lipid fraction of ten roasted Coffea species obtained by extraction with petroleum ether.…”

“…In particular, the websites of some retailers of natural oils [12][13][14][15], etc., refer to the results of studies by Oomah et al [16] or Kaur and Saraf [17] or Suryawanshi [18]. However, several other authors [19][20][21][22] argued that most vegetable oils provide no or negligible SPF values.…”