|
Pomegranate Seed Oil
For Use in
Nutricosmetics Applications
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is an ancient
fruit with exceptionally rich ethnomedical applications. The
peel (pericarp) is beneficial for its astringent properties;
the seeds for stimulating beauty.
Here, aqueous fractions prepared from the
fruit's peel and fermented juice and lipophilic fractions
prepared from pomegranate seeds were examined for effects on
human epidermal keratinocyte and human dermal fibroblast
function. Pomegranate seed oil, but not aqueous extracts of
fermented juice, peel or seed cake, was shown to stimulate
keratinocyte proliferation in monolayer culture. In
parallel, a mild thickening of the epidermis (without the
loss of ordered differentiation) was observed in skin organ
culture. The same pomegranate seed oil that stimulated
keratinocyte proliferation was without effect on fibroblast
function. In contrast, pomegranate peel extract (and to a
lesser extent, both the fermented juice and seed cake
extracts) stimulated type I procollagen synthesis and
inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1; interstitial
collagenase) production by dermal fibroblasts, but had no
growth-supporting effect on keratinocytes.
These results suggest heuristic potential of
pomegranate fractions for facilitating skin repair in a
polar manner, namely aqueous extracts (especially of
pomegranate peel) promoting regeneration of dermis, and
pomegranate seed oil promoting regeneration of epidermis.
Aslam et al. (2005).
Pomegranate as a cosmeceutical source: pomegranate fractions
promote proliferation and procollagen synthesis and inhibit
matrix metalloproteinase-1 production in human skin cells.
J Ethnopharmacol.
2006 Feb 20;103(3):311-8. Epub 2005 Oct 10. Department of
Pathology, The University of Michigan Medical School, 1301
Catherine Road/Box 0602, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
.
Written by:
the late Dr. Zakir Ramazanov
Professor of Molecular Biology
President & CEO/National Bioscience Corp.
(more
information on P40p)
|
