CosmaxBio launches hydrangea extract for skin health and weight management

21 Apr 2021 --- South Korean company CosmaxBio has developed a new ingredient based on Hydrangea serrata leaf extract, touted as improving skin health and helping with weight management.

“It is a 100 percent plant-derived extract. The natural ingredient acts as an innovative solution with dual claims in skin health and body fat loss. It is an ingestible beauty product that satisfies consumers’ needs, especially during the COVID-19 era.” Dr. Sunhee Lee, research and innovation center director of CosmaxBio, tells NutritionInsight.

Varied applications
The extract is available as a primary ingredient for a range of delivery formats, according to Lee.

“Supplements-wise, it can be included in various delivery formats including soft or hard capsules, tablets, liquids, jelly sticks, gummies and powders.”

“Moreover, it can be used in food and beverages because H. serrata leaves are registered as a food in Korea by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and also reported in the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS ) list.”

Initially, the extract is planned to be launched in South Korea, the US and China. “We are targeting the ingestible beauty market with a point of difference from the existing products, which are its antioxidant effect and the fact that it is plant-based.”

Consumers are able to consume 300 mg per day for skin health and 600 mg per day for body fat reduction, according to research from the company.

Ingredient naturality Cosmax
Bio has obtained premarket approval as an individually approved ingredient of Health Functional Food with skin health nutrition from the MFDS and has completed four patent registrations in South Korea and four patent applications internationally.

“The demand for naturally sourced raw ingredients continues to rise in response to the growing transparency trend. In other words, consumers want to know which raw ingredients are contained in the product,” Lee explains.

The ingredient is a 100 percent plant-derived extract with dual claims for boosting skin health and body fat loss.

In addition, consumer-driven environmental sustainability and the clean label trend make the “plant-based” inclination another huge tendency.

H. serrata leaf extract is derived from a native Korean plant and can be considered both “Halal” and “Vegan.”

“The dried leaves of H. serrata were extracted with boiling hot water and then spray-dried to give a dried extract. Therefore, our ingredient is derived from 100 percent H. serrata leaves,” Lee details.

Clinically-tested skin improvement
By ingesting H. serrata leaf extract, it is expected that the formation of skin wrinkles is suppressed, and skin elasticity is increased by suppressing the decrease in collagen content caused by UV rays.

“At the same time, it is possible to prevent skin aging by increasing the moisture ability from increased moisture amount and the binding power of the skin as the content of hyaluronic acid and collagen increases,” Lee notes.

The company has conducted a clinical study to confirm its efficacy in skin health improvement.

The trial included 149 healthy men and women who consumed H. serrata leaf extract for 12 weeks in the trial.

As a result, the material had shown to improve wrinkles, hydration, skin elasticity and skin texture.

In people who ingested the H. serrata leaf extract, there was shown to be an increase in collagen content in the dermis layer and the density of the dermis layer increased significantly, improving skin elasticity and reducing the appearance of wrinkles.

Also, the study proved that by increasing the amount of hyaluronic acid and collagen, it is possible to prevent skin aging and strengthen the binding power of the skin.

The H. serata extract can be included in various delivery formats, including soft or hard capsules, tablets, liquids, jelly sticks, gummies and powders.Managing weight
The CosmaxBio R&I team also studied H. serrata leaf extract’s efficacy in terms of body fat reduction.

The preliminary clinical study had shown a significant decrease in body weight and body mass index (BMI) after consuming H. serrata leaf extract during the three-month intervention period.

It confirmed that H. serrata leaf extract induces weight loss by reducing the size of fat cells, suppressing fat accumulation in the liver and regulating cholesterol and fat metabolism hormones in preclinical study.

“We investigated the anti-obesity effects of H. serrata leaf extract by examining its effects on a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice,” Lee says.

“Our results indicated that pre- and post-oral administration of H. serrata significantly prevented body weight gain and reduced body fat weight in HFD induced obese mice.”

Building on research
In addition, according to the results of microbiome analysis in the high-fat diet animal test, H. serrata leaf extract has the potential to suppress firmicutes and proteobacteria while potentially proliferating bacteroidetes.

“In addition, it was found to improve adipocyte hypertrophy and liver fat accumulation by regulating the AMPK and AKT/mTOR pathways,” Lee notes.

“It also ameliorated hyperlipidemia by reducing total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and decreased the energy metabolism-related hormones, leptin and insulin, in mouse plasma.”

Furthermore, the study found that the extract modulated gut dysbiosis by normalizing HFD-induced changes.

“Taken together, our in vivo data implicate that H. serrata leaf extract can be considered as a potential dietary supplement for alleviating obesity,” Lee sums up.

The company also recently launched Zeta probiotics technology to preserve freeze-dried probiotics and develop a “new trend” in probiotics manufacturing for human health.

Last year, it launched Agatri, an ingestible beauty product touted for its anti-aging, collagen-boosting and skin-improving properties.

By Kristiana Lalou

This feature is provided by Personal Care Insights’s sister website, Nutrition Insight.

To contact our editorial team please email us at editorial@cnsmedia.com