From Ayurveda to TikTok trends: Active Concepts launches fermented rice water for hair care

07 Jun 2022 --- Active Concepts is tapping into Ayurveda, “India’s oldest medical system,” with its ACB Rice Water SF launch for hair growth and rejuvenation. The upcycled ingredient has been inspired by the at-home #ricewater trend on TikTok that grew in popularity in 2021.

“Rice water is a huge, internet-driven trend. We wanted a way to create an upcycled value-add product that maximized performance while aligning with this trend,” Alexandra Mozina, technical marketing at Active Concepts, tells PersonalCareInsights. 

ACB Rice Water SF has been shown to maintain and enhance hydration compared to untreated and H2O controls. Mixing 5% of the ingredient in DI water has also been shown to protect hair humidity. Furthermore, the ACB Rice Water SF provides a more shiny and smooth texture compared to the DI water treated sample and the unexposed control. 

“Fermentation is known to be able to reduce the molecular weight of starches. We thought we could enhance performance using green technology by bringing together these two [Ayurveda and fermentation] traditional technologies,” continues Mozina.Rice also contains amino acids, vitamins and minerals that benefit the hair – the nutrients are transferred to the rice water from the rice grain. 

The product creation was also inspired by increasing consumer interest in “mindful beauty products.”

Ayurveda and biotech
Rice is noted to provide nutritional and therapeutic benefits in Ayurvedic medicine. To extract the most benefits from Oryza sativa (rice) seed, Active Concepts created ACB Rice Water SF by using “the oldest known biotechnological fermentation technique.”

“ACB Rice Water SF is created by taking the upcycled rice water byproduct from the production of our Organic Rice Solution and fermenting it with Saccharomyces cerevisiae,” says Mozina. 

“The material is then filtered to isolate the nutrient-rich rice water. Our ProBiocin V (INCI: Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate) is introduced to the rice water to contribute moisturization and bolster the resistance to microbial contamination.” 

“As microbiome research continues to advance, we would expect that fermentation will also be found to reduce allergenicity,” she adds. 

Additionally, using fermented biomass makes it easier, on a cellular level, to extract and enhance the natural active ingredients. 

Relevance of fermentation
Rice water can be made by anyone at home when washing rice. However, Active Concepts takes a step ahead by enhancing hydration and humidity protection. ACB Rice Water SF is created by taking the upcycled rice water byproduct and fermenting it with Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

“Fermentation is regarded as both a traditional art and modern science, and used by various people and cultures throughout the world for food preservation,” shares Mozina. 

“Fermented ingredients are effectively pre-metabolized. This delivers one of the key modern benefits of fermented ingredients – increased bioavailability.”

Fermenting rice water reduces the starches’ molecular weight, which increases its ability to “freely deposit uniform films” on hair. 

Rice also contains amino acids, vitamins and minerals that benefit the hair – the nutrients are transferred to the rice water from the rice grain. The rice starch gets hydrolyzed during fermentation, making molecules fit for absorption into the hair. 

It brings scalp benefits, hair strengthening, and hair manageability. 

By Venya Patel