Novel cosmeceuticals from plants—An industry guided review

Abstract

Novel cosmeceutical ingredients from plant sources are in huge demand by the personal care products manufacturing industry due to the growing consumer awareness about healthy products with natural ingredients. The advancements in the understanding of the skin physiology and ageing resulted in the identification of novel biochemical targets of skin health, chemical manipulation of which has the potential to regain and/or remain in a healthy state. Plants are the chief source of such phytochemicals which can alter or bring back the original healthy skin and external appearance. A number of plants have been used by the industry to create novel cosmeceutical formulations with specific objectives such as sun protection, anti-ageing, anti-wrinkling, anti-oxidant, anti-allergy. Plants growing in adverse environmental climates are being explored, evaluated and converted into novel products by the cosmeceutical industry. The current review aims at the novel plant sources which are utilized by the various industry leaders in the business and their scientific rationale for their cosmeceutical applications. Around 68 plant sources used by the industry belonging to the six major plant families, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Malvaceae and Rosaceae are reviewed scientifically for their cosmeceutical claims.