Biosurfactants in cosmetic formulations: trends and challenges

Abstract

Cosmetic products play an essential role in everyone's life. People everyday use a large variety of cosmetic products such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, skin care, perfume, make-up, among others. The cosmetic industry encompasses several environmental, social and economic impacts that are being addressed through the search for more efficient manufacturing techniques, the reduction of waste and emissions and the promotion of personal hygiene, contributing to an improvement of public health and at the same time providing employment opportunities. The current trend among consumers is the pursuit for natural ingredients in cosmetic products, as many of these products exhibit equal, better or additional benefits in comparison with the chemical-based products. In this sense, biosurfactants are natural compounds with great potential in the formulation of cosmetic products given by their biodegradability and impact in health. Indeed, many of these biosurfactants could exhibit a "prebiotic" character. This review covers the current state-of-the-art of biosurfactant research for cosmetic purposes and further discusses the future challenges for cosmetic applications.

Sophorolipid Biosurfactants Activate Taste Receptor Type 1 Member 3‐Mediated Taste Responses and Block Responses to Bitter Taste In Vitro and In Vivo

“…a); however, other yeast strains have also been documented to produce SL with greater structural variations (Hommel and Huse, ; Konishi et al, ; Kurtzman et al, ; Solaiman et al, ). Currently, SL are being used by industry in formulations for laundry and dishwashing detergents, industrial and household cleaners, and hand soaps (Develter and Lauryssen, ), but other potential applications such as in soil bioremediation (Makkar and Cameotra, ; Mulligan et al, ), skin care (Vecino et al, ), antimicrobial (Ashby et al, ; Lydon et al, ; Solaiman et al, ), and anticancer (Chen et al, ; Fu et al, ) activities as well as uses as spermicides (Shah et al, ), virucides (Shah et al, ), and as septic shock blockers (Bluth et al, ) among others have been proposed.…”

Statistical Design, a Powerful Tool for Optimizing Biosurfactant Production: A Review

“…This statistical design also revealed that for rhamnolipid production of these Pseudomonas strains, the physicochemical properties had a significant effect. Relatively low temperatures (30 • C), slight alkaline pH (8), and high agitation favored Bs production.…”

“…Bs are classified into peptides, glycolipids, lipopeptides, fatty acids, phospholipids, and high molecular weight biosurfactants like polymeric biosurfactants [1,8]. Over 200 patents were registered prior to 2011 related with the production of biosurfactants, with 50% of these patents on rhamnolipids, 35% on sophorolipids, and 10% on mannosylerythritol lipids (8).…”

“…Although they present similar properties to synthetic surfactants they are generally less toxic (with the exception of those presenting antibiotic activity), stable under extreme conditions, they are also biodegradable, and thus, are environmentally friendly [6,7]. Bs are classified into peptides, glycolipids, lipopeptides, fatty acids, phospholipids, and high molecular weight biosurfactants like polymeric biosurfactants [1,8]. Over 200 patents were registered prior to 2011 related with the production of biosurfactants, with 50% of these patents on rhamnolipids, 35% on sophorolipids, and 10% on mannosylerythritol lipids (8).…”

Potential application of Bacillus subtilis SPB1 lipopeptides in toothpaste formulation

“…In addition, they have some advantages including compatibility with human skin, low toxicity and irritancy [15] and higher biodegradability [12]. Moreover, researchers reported that thanks to their anti-adhesive, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial activities against several pathogens, biosurfactants become very interesting for cosmetic and personal care applications [16].…”