Plant polyphenols as green sunscreen ingredients: A systematic review

Abstract

The sun is the source of energy for living things on Earth. It emits electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is divided into three regions: UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVA region (320-400 nm) penetrates deep into the skin through the epidermis and dermis, which are responsible for skin darkening, photoaging, and DNA damage. UVB region (280-320 nm) acts mainly on the epidermis, which is the major cause of sunburn and skin cancer. The UVC region (200-280 nm) is less hazardous because the radiation is filtered by the stratospheric ozone layer. 1,2 Excessive exposure to UVR has harmful effects on human skin which potentially causes skin damage. Therefore, photoprotection from both UVA and UVB radiation is more of a concern for the development of sunscreen.Sunscreen plays a critical role in reducing the incidence of UVinduced skin problems with its ability to absorb, scatter, and reflect the harmful radiation, thus creating a chemical barrier on the skin that avoids skin damage caused by UVR. 3 The common ingredients in current sunscreen include organic compounds such as benzophenones, avobenzone, and p-aminobenzoic acid derivatives; inorganic compounds such as zinc oxide, magnesium oxide, titanium dioxide, and kaolin. 4 The long-term use of sunscreen consisting of these ingredients has been reported to cause negative health effects such as dermatitis, phototoxic, photoallergic, photogenotoxicity, and systemic toxicity. [5][6][7] Some studies also reported the negative environmental effect of chemical ingredients in sunscreen such as the damage to coral reefs that leads to ecosystem disruption. 8 Therefore, it is important to develop an effective sunscreen with minimum side effects.

Searching for Natural Plants with Antimelanogenesis and Antityrosinase Properties for Cosmeceutical or Nutricosmetics Applications: A Systematic Review

“…Plants are rich in polyphenols including phenolic and flavonoid compounds that may have the potential to develop as a skin-whitening agent in the cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industry. 92 From Table 1, we concluded that the use of natural plants as skinwhitening agents is highly effective as there is a significant correlation between the content of polyphenol compounds and antimelanogenesis, antityrosinase, and antioxidant activities.…”

Evaluation of Tyrosinase and Carcinoma Inhibitory Activities from the Extract of Wedelia trilobata (L.) Hitchc

“…One study demonstrated that flavonoids and phenolic, which are antioxidants, have aromatic rings in their chemical structure that can absorb UVA and UVB radiation in the 200-400 nm wavelength range. As a result, they possess optical shielding characteristics and can be used as natural sunscreens 32 . Several other studies have shown a significant correlation between SPF and the phenolic and flavonoid content of nine medicinal plants 33 .…”

Eco-luxury: Making sustainable drugs and cosmetics with Prosopis cineraria natural extracts

“…In recent years, consumer demand for utilizing natural botanical sources in cosmetics has grown substantially due to fewer side effects, high efficiency, and easy availability (Ng et al, 2022). Therefore, research shifted toward natural products with the difficult attempt to formulate stable topical emulsions containing natural bioactive constituents.…”