Marine plant stem cells as cosmetic active ingredients

 These actives are made of pure stem cells, as there is only a lyophilisation step, ensuring the maximum bio-disponibility for the natural active molecules. This biodisponibility has led to strong biological activities, such as dermal repair improvement, epidermal regeneration improvement, and epidermal permeability barrier repairing boosting effect, as shown in the studies published by Lequeux et al¹ and by Caucanas et al.² It is thought that actives based on lyophilised plant stem cells are the future of cosmetic ingredients.

More than a trend in today’s cosmetics, natural actives have become a necessity. Therefore, sources for natural actives and natural molecules are a key field of research. In the 90s, about 80% of the known natural products were from plant origin.³ More specifically, each year, a large proportion of new described molecular structures are from higher plants. 

Stem cells from higher plants are a source well-suited to natural active molecules. As the stem cells share the genetic patrimony of the plants themselves, each stem cell can potentially contain every molecule that can be found in the whole plant. Of course, things are not always that easy and culture parameters have to be adjusted in order to maximise the desired molecule synthesis. But the potentiality is here and several studies have already shown all the capacities of the stem cells. All these molecules have exhibited some interest in cosmetics and have shown some valuable activities. The fact is that every stem cell can be seen as a molecular factory, waiting for good culture conditions to synthesis the wanted molecules.