Cosmeceutical potential of apple pomace phenolic compounds: development of a natural-based dermal hydrogel as proof of concept

• Autor(a) principal: Alvarez Arraibi, Ana
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/18294
• topic: Apple pomace; Phenolic compounds; Natural cosmeceuticals; P. acnes; Pectin; Bioactivity; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Agrárias::Biotecnologia Agrária e Alimentar

Currently, there is an evident trend towards incorporating natural-based ingredients in dermal formulations. In addition to the growing consumers’ acceptance, these natural ingredients are not associated with such a high number of side effects as in the case of most artificial components. Likewise, and following a circular economy approach, there is an overall attempt to find added-value applications among materials that would be otherwise discarded or considered as waste. Apple pomace might be considered as a striking example of these industrial by-products. In fact, apple pomace remaining from cider and juice pressing industries represents a competitive source of a large number of phenolic compounds. Interestingly, the major part of these bioactive compounds is found in apple peel and remain in apple pomace after the pressing procedure. Phenolic compounds present in apple pomace (e.g., hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids and di-hydrochalcones) display health promoting activities, mainly based on their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Therefore, they seem to be a promising cosmeceutical aimed to promote the health and beauty of skin. In addition, apple pomace has a high concentration of pectin, which can be used for its jellifying properties. This research study focused in the evaluation of bioactive and chemical characterization of different apple pomace extracts. Special attention was dedicated to their phenolic profile, as well as their antioxidant and antimicrobial (specifically against different bacteria present on the skin, e.g., Propionibacterium acnes, which is linked to acne). The best extract was the mixture of ethanol:water (80:20), which proved to have the highest antimicrobial potential against P. acnes. Accordingly, this extract was later incorporated in a novel dermal hydrogel, where pectin, extracted from apple pomace by hot acid extraction, was used as jellifying agent. This hydrogel was further evaluated for its bioactivity, revealing the maintenance of antioxidant and antibacterial activity of the incorporated extract.