Food antioxidants in cosmetic formulations

In recent years food ingredients are used in the beauty industry since the customers feel that food ingredients are healthier than synthetic chemicals. Fruits, seeds, and leaves raw extracts are used to formulate cosmetic creams or supplements to improve the beauty of skin, nails, and hair. Plants produce secondary metabolites (phytochemicals) to defend themselves against germs, pests, and atmospheric agents. Some of these (e.g., phenols; A, E, and C vitamins; carotenoids; and cysteine sulphoxides) can be useful for formulating skin care products since they have antioxidant properties and can block free radicals. Phenols have skin-healing properties. For example, theaflavins protect against photoaging; anthocyanins reduce UVA-stimulated ROS formation and lipid peroxidation; catechins have anti-collagenase and anti-elastase properties; oral consumption of polyphenols enhances skin elasticity and hydration and reduces skin roughness. The vitamins (e.g., A, C, and E) are used in skin aging formulation since vitamin C controls collagen synthesis; vitamin E softens the skin, and vitamin A regulates the skin cells and collagen production and minimizes scars, burns and stretch marks. In many cases, the combined use of the topical application and oral intake enhances the results. This work reports the main analytical techniques used to isolate, identify and measure the antioxidant compounds in food.