Jellyfish do not come in your face? But it has a lot of anti-aging potential – just like some algae, seagrass, coral… A look into the treasures of the oceans
The oceans are full of secrets. Their deepest depths have only been reached a few times and are more alien to us than the lunar surface. What is waiting for us down there, makes the science to dream: “I could imagine that in the sea, the answers to all our questions are,” says biologist Dr. Ulrike Schmid-Staiger, Head of Algae Technology at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart.
Boundless diversity: So far, only a fraction of the living things that are at home under the water surface are known
The biodiversity is huge anyway. It is estimated that about 500,000 life forms exist in the oceans, of which less than 100,000 are known. Algae, jellyfish, corals, sponges, bacteria … Each week about 35 new organisms are discovered, some of which also have the talent to make us healthier and more beautiful. But they not only store good substances such as minerals, proteins and vitamins, but also poisons: lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic … “And meanwhile, there is no sample of seawater that is free from microplastics, particles up to five Millimeters in size, “says Dr. Elke Fischer, Head of Laboratory Physical Geography at the University of Hamburg. “Even at very great depths, plastic accumulates on the sea floor.” Fischer has been researching the matter since 2011 and can not yet see how much plastic is actually flowing through the oceans: “Our measuring methods reach their limits with a micrometer.” For nanoparticles, there is currently no analytical method. ” Are algae and others from the depths Active ingredients then even fit for the cream jar?
To protect the species, the animals and plants are usually bred
So that only good lands in care products and of course also for the protection of plants and animals, the ingredients are not simply fished out of the oceans, but won with sophisticated cultural programs. So the water is specially prepared in aquacultures, free of pollutants and microplastics. “In the laboratory, the optimum living conditions for light, fumigation, pH, temperature and nutrients are determined for each species of algae,” says biologist Dr. med. Ulrike Schmid-Staiger. “Algae from controlled breeding can be even more effective than those from the open sea.” In this way, all organisms can be cultivated, even corals and sponges, for which, however, you need a little more patience, because they grow very slowly.
The drug miracle: algae
They can be smaller than a pinhead or as long as a jumbo jet. What makes her so interesting for skin research? One kilogram contains active ingredients from up to 100,000 liters of seawater, so algae can store 1,000 times more iodine, 100 times more calcium and 10 times more magnesium and copper than land plants. Their vitamins and minerals protect against environmental influences and fight free radicals; their proteins supply the skin cells with energy, the chlorophyll improves the oxygenation of the skin, its sugars bind moisture. There are over 500,000 species. The four big families are green, brown, red and micro algae, many of them can be found in cosmeticsuse. The self-healing powers of the robust red alga “Chondus crispus”, for example, have impressed Caroline Nègre, head of Biotherm’s research department: “It draws its power from vitamins and minerals and keeps regenerating it biotechnologically derived substances combined and made usable for the skin. ” The molecules are 10,000 times smaller than a pore, which is why the extract is to penetrate particularly deeply.
The brown alga “Wakame”
In the jagged brown algae “Wakame”, the spores are collected in the ocean and then grow meters long in the laboratory or in outdoor pools – so the breeding runs without harvest and intervention in the ecosystem. The skin-strengthening extracts, which land, for example, in the pans of the company Phyris, come from Normandy. Among the treasures that are of great value for cosmetics are the red purples, which defy temperatures of up to 400 degrees in hydrothermal springs just under 5000 meters below the surface of the sea. In creams for sensitive skin, their survival enzymes act as a natural heat shield and protect lipids, proteins and the DNA of the skin (eg “Couperose Expert Cream” by Dr. Grandel). Quite a different skill is the funnel-shaped “Padina pavonica”, a fan-shaped brown algae,Filter water , build a solid protective cover from it – and strengthen the resistance of the horny layer as an active ingredient in a cream (eg in “Prédermine Densifying Anti-Wrinkle Cream Dry Skin” by Darphin).
The laminaria alga
Another brown algae is dedicated to Inez Linke, who researches marine life in the Baltic Sea and develops formulations for the natural cosmetics brand Oceanwell: “We grow the Laminaria algae on our organic certified farm in the Kiel Fjord and gain the active ingredients through fermentation.” A vision of the Kiel-based marine biologist: “Making better use of known raw materials instead of constantly fishing for new ones from the sea.” Often only a few active substances of an alga are used, the remainder migrates into the garbage, and it would be much more sustainable to fully utilize the biomass Extract enzymes and sugars until only the cell wall components are left, which are still good for energy. ” Inez Linke is currently working with the University of Kiel on a sunscreen without physical and chemical filters, which are in part a real burden for marine organisms. “The basis is formed by algae, which produce protective substances in intense sunlight and survive only because we want to transfer this principle to the skin and develop a completely natural sunscreen.”
The water cooler: sea asparagus
He is a distant relative of the algae and lives in shallow coastal waters, where he sits on the ground for a while at low tide. Its ability to bind a lot of water makes it resistant to dehydration – and interesting as an ingredient of creams for dry skin (eg from Biomaris)
The tighteners: jellyfish
They were there from the beginning: for about 670 million years, the cnidarians are floating through the oceans. The approximately 2500 species consist of 98 percent water, which is held together by collagen. “Jellyfish are the winners of ocean overfishing and climate change,” says Dr. Inez left. “The only creatures whose population density has increased, they are now threatening the ecological balance.” Their use as an anti-aging ingredient is thus a win-win situation for the oceans and the beauty: “The collagen from the Pacific root mouth jellyfish forms a gossamer fleece on the skin, which increases the moisture content, tightens and cushions wrinkles” , marine biologist Linke explains the effect of the world’s first natural cosmetic-certified collagen from the ocean (by Oceanwell).
The bodyguard: Seagrass
The plant is currently making a very attractive career: from the shadowy existence as fertilizer, insulation and filling material to the miracle in the cream jar. The flowering seaweed thrives all year round, almost everywhere – from the North Sea to the South Pacific. Seagrass is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, minerals, vitamins A and E. Its extract has an antibacterial, moisturizing and protects against free radicals (eg in the “Daily Resurfacer” exfoliating pads by Dermalogica).
The bearers of hope: corals
In ancient Egypt they were given magic powers of healing, in Naples superstitious people give them away to little croissants against the evil eye – and in Russia the coral is carried as a lucky charm to the wedding. She herself is not so lucky: The warming of the oceans can lead to dying, the so-called coral bleaching. Chemicals additionally burden the reefs. Of course, it forbids to harvest the cnidarians for cosmetics. Even if her anti-inflammatory terpenoids still do the skin so well. However, the Fraunhofer Institute in Straubing is currently working on decoding natural biosynthesis – in order to be able to produce it in an environmentally friendly manner in the future.