Plant cell culture technologies, a step closer to eco-friendly cosmetics: Review
There are an exponentially growing number of commercialised active cosmetic ingredients made from plant cell culture technologies that address rising sustainability concerns around energy, carbon, and water footprints, say researchers.
Researchers from the academy of sciences in Bulgaria analysed the latest trends and developments in plant cell culture technologies used to produce plant-derived substances for cosmetic formulations. The review also considered horizon opportunities and future challenges for wider commercialization and upscale.
A sustainable growth in cosmetics – plant stem cells
Plant cell culture technologies had clearly “gained the attention of modern cosmetic industries”, the researchers said.
“The growing interest is driven by the search for alternative sustainable sources of plant-derived natural bioactive products with low ecological footprints”, according to their review.
They said that plant cell culture technologies specifically offered the most eco-friendly option when sourcing phyto-ingredients from rare, endemic, protected, threatened, or endangered plant species.
An example given is Sarcocapnos crassifolia, a close to extinction plant also known as “rock breaker” that has a very interesting metabolic profile. A plant composed by two types of secondary metabolites (isoquinolinic alkaloids and fumaric acids) whose adipogenesis inhibition activity may be of useful applications in Cosmetics.
Rising cosmetics’ category – Biotech active ingredients
In the beauty sector, there has been an exponential growth in the number of commercialized cosmetic ingredients thanks to advances in plant cell culture technologies. And the driving force behind this is the innovation and specific activities brought by cultivating plant stem cells.
“With their multiple biological activities, plant cell culture extracts are extremely desirable due to the unique mix of secondary and primary metabolites occurring naturally in plant stem cells. Minor concentrations in final cosmetic formulations allows the production of plant cell extracts in small volumes at reasonable prices that cover production costs”.
There is a challenging path to upscale those procedures and scientists, policymakers, and enterprises should join efforts for speeding up the mass commercialization of plant cell culture technology as an eco-friendly alternative method for sustainable production with application in cosmetics.
Sources:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/elsc.202000078
Fernández-Poyatos, M et al. 2020. Study on Three Sarcocapnos Species as Potential Sources of Bioactive Compounds: Relation between Phenolic Content and Bioactivity by Multivariate Analysis. Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry.
López, S. et al. 1991. Alkaloids from Spanish Sarcocapnos species. CSIC.
Andersen, C. et al. 2010. Phytochemicals and adipogenesis. International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.