Patent Application
20220249358
The present invention deals with a process for obtaining bioactive ingredients, the use of a specific extraction process and new bioactive ingredients from renewable sources, particularly from Amazonia, which can be used in the preparation of cosmetic compositions for treating the skin and hair and/or scalp. Said bioactive ingredients are achieved by a subcritical water extraction process parameterized to achieve bioactive compounds from different species and different plant parts.
Plants have numerous chemical compounds in their parts such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds with highly attractive properties capable of providing unexpected cosmetic benefits.
Thus, the elements of biodiversity are a rich source for obtaining new cosmetic raw materials. However, its potential has still been untapped.
This is because despite the state of the art suggests a variety of extraction processes, such as maceration, percolation, Soxhlet extraction, infusion, decoction, ultrasound extraction and extraction by sub and supercritical fluids, there still exists a need for improved and more effective processes, which effectively provide ingredients with a high content of bioactive compounds exhibiting proven biological effectiveness, particularly in the skin, hair or scalp.
In general, the process of obtaining new cosmetic raw materials from the biodiversity faces several challenges. In many industrial processes, the initial phase of preparing a product requires the use of specific techniques suited to different plant matrices. In addition, the various extraction methods have to take effectiveness and selectivity into account, which factors are important for obtaining cosmetic ingredients that are proven to be bioactive, since the chemical composition of plant matrices is quite complex and various types of compounds, non-bioactive biological agents or, eventually, even harmful compounds can be extracted.
In this scenario, at the expense of economic implications, the development of new extraction techniques has been greatly promoted in recent years due to environmental requirements, public health regulations and the need to minimize increasingly strict energy costs.
There is an interest for extraction processes using sub- and supercritical fluids, mainly in the recovery of highly pure bioactive compounds. However, although in recent years it has been characterized as an emerging technology due to its several advantages over conventional extraction methods, such as the fact that it is a clean and selective technology, the high investment cost in installing the sub and supercritical extraction plant is still a major obstacle to the industrial use of the technology.
Thus, there is still a challenge for achieving new efficient bioactive ingredients for use in the cosmetic industry, particularly for the treatment of the skin, hair and/or scalp.
Seeking to overcome the obstacles of the prior art, particularly in relation to the complex chemical nature of different plant species, environmental requirements and, in particular, the processing efficiency, the present invention provides a new process for obtaining bioactive ingredients, particularly from renewable sources from Amazonia, which can be used in the preparation of cosmetic compositions for the treatment of the skin, hair and/or scalp.
Thus, the object of the present invention is a process for obtaining bioactive ingredients, which can be referred to as a green process, as it involves waste management and uses no organic solvents.
The process for obtaining the bioactive ingredients of the present invention comprises the following steps:
In a particular embodiment, the step a) of initial drying is carried out in wooden drying houses with air circulation exhaust systems. These are handmade small houses for drying plant parts such as leaves and/or waste, which are cheap to produce and, therefore, industrially viable.
In another particular embodiment, the step b) of extraction takes place under a specific parameterization of about 1.5 to about 4 bars of pressure, for a period of time of about 30 minutes, a temperature of from 140-160° C., and a solid:liquid ratio of about 1:7.
Moreover, step c) of drying can take place with or without the use of a drying agent, for example Aerosil, maltodextrin and starch.
It is a continuous process, which does not require the use of organic solvents, has shorter operating time, low production costs, high yield (throughput), in addition to providing superior active ingredients, that is, obtaining an extract without any chlorophyll and a higher content of bioactive compounds.
In a further aspect, the present invention refers to the use of a specific subcritical water extraction process to achieve high quality bioactive ingredients from plants, wherein extraction takes place in a pressurized reactor at a pressure of 1 to 210 bar, fora time of 15 to 120 minutes, at a temperature of 100 to 200° C., comprising a solid:liquid ratio of from about 1:0.5 to about 1:14.
Quality of the active ingredient obtained according to the present invention, in particular its high content of bioactive compounds, regardless of the origin and nature of the plant species, provides an effective cosmetic performance, that is, it allows the ingredient to act in different mechanisms of action in the skin, hair and scalp.
Unlike conventional subcritical water extraction processes, which usually use high pressure capsules and extracts are obtained at 300 bars, the process according to the present invention uses much lower pressures, allowing the use of different equipment such as reactors. A reduced pressure also means reduced energy expenditure.
Furthermore, in the process according to the present invention, reducing the amount of water used is very important as it reduces the energy expenditure in drying the extract and uses less water.
By “bioactive ingredients” in the context of the present invention is meant the product obtained by the process described herein, such as extracts.
The obtained bioactive ingredients comprise the set of bioactive substances or compounds that have a beneficial effect on the skin, hair or scalp.
In the context of the present invention, “bioactive substance or compound” is meant molecules that either alone or in combination with others are able to provide cosmetic benefits on the skin, hair or scalp.
In particular, the plant species useful for obtaining the bioactive ingredients according to the present invention are: Byrsonima crassifolia (nanche), Inga edulis (ice-cream-bean), Libidibia férrea (Brazilian ironwood), Talinum triangulare (waterleaf), Solanum sessiliflorum (cocona), Costus arabicus (canarana), Euterpe oleraceae (acai palm), Spondias mombin (yellow mombin), Elaeis guineenses (oil palm) e/ou Ananas erectifolius (curaua).
In a particular embodiment, the bioactive ingredients are obtained from specific plant parts. Without imposing any limitation, for example, they can be obtained from aerial plant parts, such as stalks, leaves, flowers and fruits, or just leaves, as well as from agro-industrial residues such as seeds, mesocarp fiber or mucilage.
The bioactive ingredients according to the present invention are suitable for cosmetic use, for example, in the preparation of cosmetic compositions useful in the treatment of skin, hair and/or scalp.
The cosmetic compositions according to the present invention can provide benefits to the skin, hair and/or scalp such as anti-aging, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hydration, integrity/barrier function, pigmentation, cell renewal, protection against external agents, renewal/regeneration, actuation on the neuroendocrine/circadian rhythm system, anti-hair loss, hair growth control. These benefits are proven by gene expression screening in cell culture, bioinformatics analysis and identification of biological mechanisms.
The bioactive ingredients according to the present invention are obtained by subcritical water extraction parameterized to obtain bioactive compounds from different plant species.
There are several biochemical and biological tests to assess the biological potential of bioactive compounds, depending on the specific activity of interest to be evaluated. For example, the antioxidant activity can be assessed by several biochemical methods that contemplate different chemical mechanisms of antioxidant activity. This is because antioxidants can act by various mechanisms, for example, scavenging free radicals, breaking down peroxides and chelating metal ions; in addition to biological assays comprising stimulation of the endogenous production of antioxidant enzymes.
The technology chosen to assess the biological potential of extracts from selected plants according to the present invention involved a gene expression study of 368 genes followed by the identification of the biological mechanisms modulated by each extract.
To demonstrate the performance of each extract in the previously identified biological mechanisms, protein quantification of some specific markers or specific functional assays was performed, according to the potential identified for each sample.
After performing gene expression assays, the biological mechanisms modulated to provide skin benefits were identified and are presented below:
After performing gene expression assays, the modulated biological mechanisms in the hair/scalp were identified and are presented below:
The following examples, without any limitation, describe the particular embodiments of the present invention.
Byrsonima crassifolia, Inga edulis, Libidibia ferrea, Talinum triangulare, Solanum sessiliflorum, Costus arabicus, Euterpe oleraceae, Spondias mombin, Elaeis guineenses e/ou Ananas erectifolius plant species were each subjected to the sub-critical extraction process as described above; eleven different bioactive ingredients were obtained, which had their effects assessed in a gene screening in cell culture.
For this purpose, each of the species was subjected to prior drying in wooden drying houses with air exhaustion for an appropriate period of time. Then, the dry material was subjected to extraction by a subcritical water process in a pressurized reactor at a pressure of 2 bars, for a period of 30 minutes, at high temperature and a solid:liquid ratio of 1:7, 1:14 and 1:1. The extracted material was dried with and without drying aid (Aerosil).
The process according to the present invention made it possible to obtain more concentrated and pure bioactive ingredients, having proven cosmetic efficacy by acting on several biological mechanisms related to the skin, hair and scalp.
Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter
Bertholletia excelsa seed oil
Talinum triangulare aerial parts extract
Euterpe oleraceae seed extract
Elaeis guineensis oil (palm)
Heliantus Annuus Oil
Linum usitatissimum seed oil
Theobroma cacao seed butter
Talinum triangulare aerial parts extract
Euterpe oleraceae seed extract
Astrocarium murumuru seed
Elaeis Guineans mesocarp fiber
Inga edulis leaf extract
Talinum triangulare aerial parts extract
Inga Edulis leaf extract
Talinum triangulare aerial parts extract
The person skilled in the art will be able to readily assess through the teachings of the instant text and examples the advantages of the invention and to propose variations and equivalent alternatives of implementation without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR102019013936-6 | Jul 2019 | BR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/BR2020/050244 | 7/3/2020 | WO |
