Current situation and application development of cosmetic plant raw materials

Lishaotao1 Stone Tomahawk2 Demone 3 Songyu1 Wanggangli1

1. National Institutes for food and drug control (nifdc) 2. Institute of medicinal plants, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences 3 State Drug Administration

In order to clarify the current situation of the use of cosmetic plant raw materials in China, this paper combined with the existing laws and regulations in China, and after full investigation, put forward some thoughts and suggestions on the definition, acquisition and application of cosmetic plant raw materials.

In 2021, the regulation on the supervision and administration of cosmetics (hereinafter referred to as the regulation) was officially implemented. The regulation clearly encourages and supports the use of modern science and technology to research and develop cosmetics in combination with China's traditional advantageous projects and characteristic plant resources. This has pointed out the direction for the development and application of plant raw materials in the future of China's cosmetics industry, and has attracted extensive attention from the cosmetics industry and consumers. In order to have a thorough understanding of the current situation of the use of cosmetic plant raw materials in China, this paper combined with the existing laws and regulations in China, and after full investigation, put forward some thoughts and suggestions on the definition, acquisition and application of cosmetic plant raw materials, so as to provide reference for the decision-making of regulatory authorities.

In China, plant resources have been used as raw materials in "cosmetics" for a long time, and have been clearly recorded in the Shennong materia medica classic and compendium of Materia Medica[1]Plants include seed plants, bryophytes, ferns and algae. Seed plants and algae are the most widely used plants in cosmetics. Nearly 97% of the used cosmetic raw materials catalogue (2021 version) are seed plants and nearly 3% are algae. Seed plants have six major organs: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds, but the structure of algae is simple, without differentiation of roots, stems, and leaves. They are mostly single-cell, colony, or multicellular phyllodes.

Definition of cosmetic plant raw materials

Although more than 3000 plant related raw materials are included in the catalogue of used cosmetic raw materials (2021 version) issued by the State Food and drug administration, there is no clear definition of cosmetic plant raw materials in the relevant laws and regulations of China. Common plant related raw materials mainly include plant extracts and compounds purified from plants[2]Some of these components have been significantly different from plant raw materials in the general sense.

In the United States, according to the international cosmetic important dictionary and Handbook released by the American Personal Care Products Association (PCPC), botanical ingredients used in cosmetics refer to components directly derived from plants and not chemically modified, mainly including extracts, juice, water, powder, oil, wax, gel, liquid juice, tar, gum, unsaponifiable matter and resin.

In Japan, according to the Japanese cosmetic industry association (JCIA) technical data No.124 "guidelines for the formulation of cosmetic raw material specifications" (Second Edition), plant derived substances refer to raw materials derived from plants (including algae), including extracts from all or part of plants, dried products of plants or plant extracts, plant juice, aqueous and oil phases (essential oils) obtained by steam distillation of plants or plant extracts, pigments extracted from plants, etc.

In the European Union, according to the European Chemicals Agency Technical Data guidance for identification and naming of substances under reach and CLP (2017, version 2.1), plant derived substances refer to complex natural substances obtained by processing plants or their parts through extraction, distillation, pressing, fractionation, purification, concentration or fermentation. The composition of these substances varies according to the genus and species of plant origin, growth conditions and harvest time, as well as the processing technology used. As a general rule, a single substance means that the content of one of the main ingredients is at least 80% (w/w).

Although there is no legal definition of cosmetic plant raw materials in China at present, according to the actual application of plant raw materials in cosmetics in China and in combination with the relevant international statements on cosmetic plant derived substances, the academic community generally believes that the definition of cosmetic plant raw materials should include four aspects: first, it should be directly derived from plants; Second, it should be a multi-component mixture, and the content of a single component should not exceed 80%; Third, without chemical modification or biotransformation, that is, to maintain the morphology, chemical composition and chemical structure of the original plant; Fourth, the purpose of use should conform to the definition of cosmetics in China.

For example, rose petals, ginseng roots, apricot seed powder, etc. are original plants or original plant powder; ; Lime fruit extract, grape extract, liquorice extract, apple extract, lemon extract and other crude plant extracts are solvent extracted... The above raw materials belong to the category of cosmetic plant raw materials.

If it has been chemically modified or biotransformed (such as acid, alkali, enzyme conversion, fermentation, cell culture, etc.), such as hydrogenated vegetable oil, hydrolyzed lime fruit extract, grape fermented extract, etc., it is not a cosmetic plant raw material. ; Dipotassium Glycyrrhizinate, malic acid and citric acid are single compounds. Although the above raw materials contain plants in their names, they do not belong to cosmetic plant raw materials.

Acquisition of cosmetic plant raw materials

The most widely used plants in cosmetics are seed plants and algae. Nearly 97% of the used cosmetic raw materials catalogue (2021 version) are seed plants and nearly 3% are algae. The application forms of plant raw materials in cosmetics are diverse, and their sources can be whole plants[3]It can also be different parts of plants, including roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Cosmetic plant raw materials can be obtained by solvent extraction, mechanical crushing, mechanical pressing, steam distillation and other methods, or by direct application of original plants. For example, extract refers to the product obtained by solvent extraction, such as Citrus sinensis extract; ; Juice is the product obtained by mechanical pressing or the juice from the trunk, such as aloe barbadensis leaf juice and Betula Alba tree juice; Water, generally refers to the aqueous solution containing volatile oil obtained by steam distillation, such as citrus aurantium dulcis fruit water; Oil can be volatile oil obtained by steam distillation, such as citrus aurantium dulcis peel oil, or fatty oil obtained by mechanical pressing, such as citrus aurantium dulcis seed oil; Direct application of original plants, such as Panax ginseng roots, rose petals, etc.

It should be noted that different ways of obtaining cosmetic plant raw materials will lead to different safety. For example, tea is mainly composed of polyphenols, anthocyanins, proteins and amino acids, polysaccharides and other components during water extraction; . Another example is that the extract of Radix Aucklandiae is available, while the oil of Radix Aucklandiae is forbidden; Fig leaf extract is available, while fig leaf pure oil is contraindicated. In addition, the plant raw materials produced by different processes should pay attention to different risk substances[4]For example, the direct application of original plants, as well as plant raw materials obtained by mechanical crushing and mechanical pressing, should pay attention to the risk of pesticide residues.

Application of cosmetic plant materials

The catalogue of used cosmetic raw materials (2021 Edition) is an objective collection of used cosmetic raw materials produced and sold in China. The name of the raw material is in the form of "certain plant extract". In principle, it means that the whole plant and its extract are used raw materials, and its specific parts should be indicated when using.

Plant species and genera are the basis for judging whether they are the same plant. . Raw materials from different plant parts have different safety and efficacy due to the different types and contents of chemical components. For example, Sophora flavescens root is available, while Sophora flavescens (Sophora flavescens seed) is disabled. Therefore, when applying plant raw materials in cosmetics, it is necessary to clarify their species and indicate their specific use parts. The standard Chinese names of cosmetic plant raw materials include these two aspects, such as Panax ginseng root extract, Panax ginseng leaf / stem extract, citrus aurantium dulcis peel oil, Rosa rugosa flower water, etc. the foreign language in brackets refers to the species and genera of plants, and "root", "leaf / stem", "peel" and "flower" are the specific parts of plants.

It is worth noting that the catalogue of used cosmetic raw materials (2021 Edition) contains many raw materials with plant names, including existing plants as direct sources of raw materials (i.e. cosmetic plant raw materials), such as Leontopodium alpinum extract, Chlorella vulgaris extract, Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract, apple (Malus domestica) fruit extract, Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, Scutellaria baicalensis root powder, etc; . As mentioned earlier, these raw materials indirectly derived from plants can no longer be classified as plant raw materials, because they are significantly different from plant raw materials in morphology, chemical composition and chemical structure.

Prospect of cosmetic plant raw materials

Cosmetics containing plant raw materials are favored by consumers, and the development of plant raw materials with high safety and strong efficacy has become the development trend of the cosmetics industry[5]; On this basis, further sort out the raw materials with plant names in the catalogue of used raw materials, clarify their specific classification, and give guidance to the declaration language of products to avoid misleading consumers.

In addition, in order to improve the quality of raw materials and ensure the safety of raw materials, it is necessary to study and formulate the standards of main plant raw materials. Based on the green and safety of cosmetic plant raw materials, around the application of cosmetic plant raw materials, various forms of training, publicity and education activities are organized to make plant raw materials shine in the cosmetics industry. Scientific research institutions and enterprises should also strengthen the research of cosmetic plant raw materials, focusing on the content, toxicity, transdermal absorption, toxicokinetics and other indicators of effective ingredients, so as to ensure its efficacy and safety. It is believed that through the joint efforts of the whole industry, cosmetic plant raw materials can better help China's cosmetic industry to move towards the goal of high-quality development.

The article comes from Chinese cosmetics 2022, (Z2)

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