Innovative use of berry seeds in cosmetics

Natural, safe and healthy are the megatrends in global cosmetic industry. Many cosmetic ingredients are synthetic, especially the preservatives, which are associated with many negative or even toxic effects by the consumer. Plant based natural compounds and extracts have raised a lot of positive interest and they are screened at the moment by many cosmetic companies for their preservative characteristics and other positive activities.
The role of skin microbiome in skin health is one of the hot topics in cosmetic research. Skin is the largest organ of human body, harboring one billion microbes/cm2, and cosmetic companies are just now starting to understand the importance of a healthy skin microbial community to the general health and wellbeing of the skin. New product category is just entering the market focusing on supporting and stabilizing healthy skin microbiota by limiting the growth of harmful and pathogenic microbes and supporting the growth of beneficial ones.
VTT has a long experience on berry research, especially on antimicrobially active phenolic compounds. The focus has been on the industrial berry side streams and the utilization of the whole berry raw material. We have developed berry and fruit based natural antimicrobial ingredients for the cosmetics originating from the berry and fruit side streams by novel technologies. Three technologies have been patented and they are based on 1) dry fractionation technologies using seed sanding, 2) mild and gently milling, and 3) novel extraction technologies.
In addition to antimicrobial activity the fractions provide several important technological advantages as cosmetic ingredients: totally water soluble, free of toxic solvents or reagents, good storage life.