Sustainable cosmetics – berry-based ingredients for bioactive skin care products

Cosmetics are moving towards pharma and cosmeceuticals are entering the market. Modern biotechnology offers many advantages to develop new type of ingredients for industrial applications in a sustainable way. Due to the arctic growth conditions Nordic wild berries are rich sources of natural biomolecules with multifunctional effects to the skin. We have shown that phenolic compounds in berries very efficiently inhibit the growth of many human pathogens including skin pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa without effecting the growth of beneficial bacteria. Several mechanisms of action, including the weakening of the outer membrane of Gram- negative bacteria, are involved in the growth inhibition. More interestingly, various berry phenolics are shown to specifically block cell-to-cell signalling (quorum sensing) in a bacterial community. Thus these phytochemicals can act in cosmetic preparations in dual way, as natural preservatives to prevent spoilage of the product, and as stabilizers of healthy skin microbiota by inhibiting the growth of harmful skin microbes and by supporting the growth of beneficial microbes.

Bioprocessing including enzyme treatment and fermentation combined with special dry fractionation technologies of the berry material has resulted in increased bioactivities. Using plant cell and tissue culture technology whole biosynthetic capacity of the plant can be advantaged and even totally new beneficial compounds for the skin can be produced. The unusual phenolic profile of the cultured berry cells, as well as their fatty acid composition with a high proportion of α-linolenic acid and high protein content makes them a unique and interesting alternative for cosmetic industry. Efficient utilization of the biomolecules requires controlled delivery systems into the skin, such as microcurrent patches developed at VTT, which are based on renewable enzyme catalysts and renewable materials. The possibilities using natural plant cell-derived ingredients combined with new delivery system will also be discussed.