EU project aims to develop advanced natural raw materials for cosmetics

The Agrocos project launched by the European Commission will develop advanced natural raw materials for the cosmetics market as the global trend continues.

The project looks to extract molecules from 1,800 plant species harvested in 'biodiversity hotspots' in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, which are then tested for qualities and key characteristics such as UV protection and anti-ageing properties, or efficacy against age spots.

From the thousands of compounds extracted, the project aims to identify the five most promising ones.

Biodiversity

"The benefits of AGROCOS will be specific and tangible," says Professor Skaltsounis of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , and Agrocos Project Coordinator.

"By the end of the project, novel compounds drawn from the resources offered by global biodiversity are expected to be available for use as new ingredients in cosmetic products.”

The final five ingredients selected from the tests will then create an extensive 'library' of compounds, to be made available for future use by researchers or commercial enterprises.

"This is an important breakthrough for the technique of 'bio-prospecting' - deriving materials from nature,” Skaltsounis continues.

“Plants have been used since antiquity to meet people's needs. Henna dye has long been used as a cosmetic, for example, or the Indian Neem tree for crop protection," he adds.

Prospects

This ‘primitive’ bio-prospecting was revived in recent decades as the discovery of novel bioactive products enabled the production of important anti-cancer and anti-microbial drugs, and has now become viable in terms of both cost and time too.

The project is also beneficial to the agrochemical sector, and is particularly exciting according to Skaltsounis, as "only 10% of the existing 400,000 higher plant species, and an even lower percentage of fungi and invertebrates, have so far been analyzed."