Key takeaways
- Agri-food by-products such as avocado, apple and kiwi offer sustainable, multifunctional benefits for cosmetic formulations.
- These extracts provide antioxidant, photoprotective and anti-inflammatory properties, helping combat oxidative stress and photoageing.
- Nanobubbles enhance penetration and stability, suggesting potential for next-generation skincare products.
- Further in vivo studies are needed to optimise formulations for commercial use.
As cosmetic formulators increasingly focus on sustainable, circular ingredients, agri-food by-products are likely to play a more central role in future product development.
A recent study by Greek researchers that was published in the Cosmetics journal investigated anti-photoageing creams enriched with natural extracts from avocado, apple and kiwi by-products, with and without nanobubbles, to evaluate their antioxidant, photoprotective, anti-inflammatory and antiplatelet properties.
The science behind avocado, apple and kiwi extracts
Avocado by-products are rich in phenolic bioactive compounds, polar lipids, carotenoids and tocopherols. Apple by-products contain high concentrations of fibres, polysaccharides and polar phenolic compounds, which have been shown to protect dermal fibroblasts against oxidative stress and modulate inflammatory responses. Meanwhile, kiwi peel and seeds are rich in vitamins, polyphenols and antioxidant molecules that help strengthen the skin barrier and regulate UV-induced inflammation and inflammatory signalling.
The high phenolic and carotenoid content of avocado, apple and kiwi by-products contributes to strong antioxidant activity, helping to neutralise reactive oxygen species (ROS), a major factor in premature skin ageing and oxidative damage. By reducing oxidative stress, these compounds help maintain the integrity and health of skin cells.
Natural antioxidant and phenolic compounds in the extracts also help reduce photoageing by limiting damage from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. They can absorb or reflect part of the UV radiation and attenuate associated inflammatory and oxidative responses, thereby enhancing the skin’s photoprotective capacity.
Nanobubbles: boosting penetration and bioactivity in formulations
For the study, cosmetic formulations enriched with natural extracts from avocado, apple and kiwi by-products, combined with nanobubbles (NBs), were developed and evaluated.
The results demonstrated strong antioxidant, photoprotective, anti-inflammatory and antiplatelet properties, with extract-enriched creams showing enhanced bioactivity and stability over time. Although NBs did not markedly improve in vitro performance, they enhanced the penetration of active compounds, suggesting potential in vivo benefits.
According to the study, the use of natural extracts with nanobubbles offers a promising, eco-friendly strategy for the cosmetics industry, enabling the development of stable, effective and skin-health-promoting products.
The research team has called for further in vivo studies and long-term evaluations to confirm the observed effects and optimise formulations for commercial applications.