This article looks at the abundance of skin care ingredients that may come from the sea. The oceans contain much that may be useful and at present, we are only at the beginning of that journey. Is there much that we have not learnt and could much be still all at sea? All italics, here, by the way, are mine.
Cosmeceuticals can be defined as cosmetic products with biologically active ingredients purporting to exert pharmaceutical effects on the skin. Recently, great interest has been shown by consumers in novel bioactive compounds from natural sources, instead of synthetic ingredients, thanks to their perceived beneficial effects. Therefore, there are numerous efforts to develop biologically active ingredients from natural organisms.
Most studies have been based on terrestrial sources; however, it has been shown that natural compounds isolated from marine sources show higher biological activity than those isolated from terrestrial sources, and as a result, there is a lot of interest in the studies of ingredients using natural marine sources. In particular, oceans account for about 70% of the earth’s surface and their biodiversity makes them an excellent reservoir of sources for natural products. Among various natural organisms, marine algae, which grow much faster than terrestrial plants, are considered to be abundant and essential sources of numerous constituents beneficial for human skin health.
Algae are photosynthetic organisms with a complex and controversial taxonomy. To date, more than 20,000 species of algae have been identified, and there are two kinds of algae depending on size. Macroalgae (seaweeds) are defined as multicellular marine plants that live in coastal areas and have simpler structures than terrestrial plants.
Marine macroalgae are classified into three species according to their pigments: Phaeophyceae (brown macroalgae, Chromophyta), Chlorophyta (green macroalgae) and Rhodophyta (red macroalgae). In contrast, microalgae are small unicellular or simple multicellular species and are found in various environments.
Marine algae are composed of various substances including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, amino acids, minerals and flavonoids. Among the various ingredients, carbohydrates are the most abundant constituents of marine algae. Based on degrees of polymerization (the joining of small molecules to make larger ones - called polymers here: DPs), carbohydrates, also called saccharides, exist in marine algae as various forms of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Marine carbohydrates have been utilised in cosmeceutical industries due to their chemical and physical properties.
Fucoidans/alginate from brown algae, ulvans from green algae and carrageenans/agar from red algae are used as gelling, thickening and stabilizing agents. In addition, accumulating reports suggest that marine carbohydrates have been proven to exhibit potential benefits for skin. The biological activities of marine carbohydrates are known to be linked with their structure as determined by DPs ormolecular weights, the presence of sulfate groups and types of sugars. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the skin health cosmetic effects of carbohydrates extracted from marine algae, which are considered to be sources of excellent carbohydrates.
Numerous studies showed that marine algae extracts and algal carbohydrates showed various biological activities against skin disorders including hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, dry skin disorders, skin inflammation and skin cancer. However, although diverse biological activities of marine carbohydrates have been determined, their detailed molecular mechanisms and target proteins are not fully understood. Therefore, further investigations to elicit the precise molecular basis for the biological activity of marine algal compounds should be undertaken.
Taken from the following. For more detailed information relating to marine products in skincare, please refer to the main article.
Kim JH, Lee JE, Kim KH, Kang NJ. Beneficial Effects of Marine Algae-Derived Carbohydrates for Skin Health. Mar Drugs. 2018 Nov 21;16(11):459. doi: 10.3390/md16110459. PMID: 30469402; PMCID: PMC6266229.
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