Vita oils
Vita oils is a vegetable oils complex composed of avocado, coconut, sunflower, argan and linseed oil.
Composition
1. Avocado
Botany
Persea gratissima Gaertn. (=Persea americana Mill.), commonly known as avocado. It is an evergreen tree that belongs to the Lauraceae family. It measures between 8 and 20 m in height. The fruit, called avocado or palta, is a spherical or pear-shaped drupe variable in color (green, yellow or violet). It has a yellowish oily pulp, similar to butter, and a large bone. Avocado is native to South America, but it is also cultivated in Africa, in America (Mexico, United States, Brazil) and in Israel. Avocado oil is obtained through the compression of the fruits of Persea gratissima Gaerth.; this oil contains vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin E.
Chemistry
Avocado is one of the most nutritious fruits. Its pulp has a buttery consistency and a mild flavor. The following active principles are found in avocado oil:
Lipids
The main fatty acid is oleic acid, followed by palmitic acid and linoleic acid. Fatty acids present in trace amounts are myristic acid, stearic acid, linolenic acid and arachidonic acid (Kadam & Salunkhe, 1995).
Vitamins
Avocado oil contains vitamin A, E and D (Batista, A. et al., 1993).
Traditional uses
The indigenous people called this fruit auácatl, in nauátl language, meaning “testicle”, in reference to the morphology of this fruit when hanging from the tree. Old botanists called it P.gratissima, due to its exquisite aroma and flavor.
Popularly, this fruit is credited with the ability to strengthen bones, improve vision, prevent the formation of intestinal gas and have beneficial effects on colds, catarrhs, headaches and neuralgia. Externally, its oil is used for rheumatism and gout pain. It stimulates appetite, tones the nervous system, regulates menstruation and relieves cough.
Composition
2. Coconut
Botany
Cocos nucifera L.(=Cocos mamillaris Blanco) is commonly known as coconut tree or coconut palm. It is a palm tree belonging to the Arecaceae family.
This palm tree gives a fruit that is a large fibrous drupe commonly known as coconut. Coconuts have an elliptical or almost round shape and they essentially are large hollow seeds with a hairy covering.
Depending on the specific variety, ripe fruits can be green, yellow ochre or red orange in color. However, when they dry on the tree, they all acquire a dull brown color before falling. Coconuts can weigh up to 2.5 kg.
Coconuts grow along sandy shores across the tropics and in most subtropical regions. The most important coconut producing regions in the world are the Malay Archipelago, the countries of Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, the Pacific Islands, East Africa and countries in Central and South America.
Coconut oil is obtained by pressing and subsequent refinement of the pulp of the Cocos nucifera L fruit.
Chemistry
The fresh non-dried endosperm contains between 35 and 40% of oil, 10% of carbohydrates, 3% of proteins and approximately 50% of water.
Fatty acids
- Saturated fatty acids
The main characteristic of coconut oil is its high content in short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids:- 45-53.2% of lauric acid (12:0)
- 16.8-21% of myristic acid (14:0)
- 7.5-10.2% of palmitic acid (16:0)
- 4.6-10% of caprylic acid (8:0)
- 5-8% of capryc acid (10:0)
- 2-4% of stearic acid (18:0)
- Saturated fatty acids
Its essential fatty acids content is lower (Codex Stan 210; 1999):- 5-10% of oleic acid (18:1)
- 1.0-2.5% of linoleic acid (18:2)
Traditional uses
The name Cocos derived, probably, from a Portuguese word meaning “monkey”, maybe because of the similarity of this fruit, with its three germinative pores, with the mouth of the apes. The specific name nucifera comes from Latin and it means “nut carrier” ( fero = “I carry” and nux-nucis = nut). Coconuts have been cultivated and used in India and in continental Southeast Asia for at least 3000 years.
The main products obtained from coconut palm are derived from its fruit. Oil as main product and flour as by-product (30-40% of initial weight) are obtained from the copra (or dry endosperm). The extracted oil is used for cooking and to make margarine, cocoa butter, soaps, lotions, perfumes and other cosmetic products, in addition to candles and oil for lanterns.
Coconut oil tends to solidify at room temperature and does not become rancid. It is essentially important in the manufacture of soap, when the goal is to create soap with a rich and creamy texture. The same is applicable to shampoo and its creaminess. The copra is widely used in local and global confectionery manufacturing and as a component in livestock feed.
Coconuts have many applications in the field of medicine, including: antiseptic, astringent, bactericidal, diuretic, etc. It is used in many tropical countries as a popular remedy against asthma, bronchitis, bruises, burns, constipation, dysentery, cough, fever, flu and so on. Coconut oil has many medicinal uses in South Asia. It is taken refined as a substitute for cod liver oil, it is used topically to reduce fever and for breathing problems, and it is used as an oil to prevent grey hair. The old dry endosperm is used as an aphrodisiac ingredient in certain preparations and as an anti-helminthic agent specifically to remove tapeworms.
Composition
3. Sunflower
Botany
Helianthus annuus L. Commonly known as sunflower. It is an annual plant that belongs to the Asteraceae family.
It is an unbranched erect plant of around 0.6-3 m. Its stem has a semi-woody consistency. Sunflower leaves are large and have rough hairs. The number of leaves usually ranges between 12 and 40 and its color varies from dark green to yellowish green, depending on growing conditions and variety. Its flowers aggregate in solitary capitula. These capitula are very large and apparent and are around 10-30 cm in diameter. There are two types of flowers in the capitula: inner flowers and outer flowers. Inner flowers produce the fruit. Outer flowers are yellow and their function is to attract pollinating insects. Flowering occurs from July to September.
The fruit, commonly known as sunflower seed, is an achene that can be between 3 and 20 mm long and between 2 and 13 mm wide. The pericarp is fibrous and tough and it sticks to the seed.
Nowadays, sunflower cultivation only takes place in considerable amounts in a few countries: the whole of the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe, United States and Argentina. China, Turkey, India and South Africa are also producing countries, but in smaller proportions.
Sunflower oil is obtained by the extraction and subsequent refining of the seeds of Helianthus annuus L.
Chemistry
Sunflower seeds contain a high percentage of oil that ranges from 27 to 37%, although it can even reach 45%.
1. Unsaturated fatty acids
Sunflower seeds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids.
Table 1 shows the main fatty acids found in sunflower seeds and their average percentage.
2. Unsaturated fatty acids
Sunflower oil also has a significant sterol and tocopherol (or vitamin E) content.
The main sterols found in sunflower oil are β-sitosterol, δ-7-stigmasterol and δ-5-avenasterol.
Sunflower oil α-tocopherol content is also important. On average, 55 mg of α-tocopherol are found per 100 g of sunflower oil (www.fao.org/DOCREEP/004/Y2809E/y2809e0f.htm).
3. Other active principles
Ohenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid), carotenoids, lecithin.
Traditional uses
The term Helianthus comes from the Greek, where Helios means sun and anthos means flower. The term annus comes from Latin and means annual.
The origin of sunflower goes back to 3000 years BC in northern Mexico and western United States, as it was cultivated by the indigenous tribes of New Mexico and Arizona. Sunflower was one of the main agricultural products used as food by many American communities before America’s discovery.
Currently, there is an extensive list of product applications from sunflower seeds. Crude oils and refined oils and flours are used in the food industry. New applications in the cosmetic industry are becoming increasingly important.
Composition
4. Argan
Botany
Argan (Argania spinosa), also known as Moroccan ironwood, is an evergreen, shrubby and prickly tree, native from the calcareous and semi-desert soils of southwestern Morocco (Souss region). Argan can be up to 8-10 meters high and its lifespan is 125 to 450 years. However, it does not reach its maximum production efficiency until 40-60 years of age, in a process that only takes place in Morocco.
The leaves are small, 2 to 4 cm long, and oval with a rounded apex. The flowers bloom in April and are small, with 5 pale green-yellow petals. The fruits are between 2 and 4 cm long and 1.5 and 3 cm wide. They are green and similar to elongated olives, with a thin, bitter skin that surrounds a pulpy pericarp, sweet smelling but with an unpleasant taste.
Argan is obtained from the fruits. The elongated seeds inside them contain a precious oil. The fruit takes a year to ripen and falls in July, when it is dry and black in color. In its natural habitat, goats and other animals eat the fruits and then excrete the hard-shelled seeds. These seeds are collected and pressed to obtain valuable Argan Oil (which is sold at a price 10 times higher than that of olive oil). Nowadays, the seeds are obtained straight from the tree.
Chemistry
Argan Oil contains 80% of unsaturated fatty acids. It is rich in essential fatty acids, mainly omega-6 acid, in addition to containing high concentrations of vitamin E, which increases its resistance to oxidation compared to olive oil. No heat or solvents are used to extract this oil. A cold-pressing process is used to obtain a superior nutritional quality. The composition of Argan Oil is shown in the following tables (Khallouki, 2003):
Traditional uses
The history of the Berbers, the name given to people living in the region of Agadir in Morocco, is intertwined with argan. They have used it for centuries as a food source, coal, wood and building material. Nevertheless, Argan Oil is its most relevant use.
Traditionally, the oil was used as a protective agent in liver and bloodstream diseases, such as high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. It is an excellent tonic and it is believed to have phrodisiac qualities. On the whole, it strengthens the body’s natural defenses.
From a scientific point of view, it has been established that Argan Oil contains nearly two times more vitamin E than olive oil. It is also rich in antioxidants. It also contains sterols not found in other vegetable oils, with soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, and which are beneficial for rheumatic or arthritic conditions. Essential fatty acids affect cellular fluidity and help prevent moisture loss from the skin and the linings of the nose, lungs, digestive system and brain. They also play a role in prostaglandin formation, some of which reduce pain and inflammation, while others improve blood circulation.
The second pressing of the oil was used in the manufacture of cosmetics and homemade soaps. Skin products made from Argan Oil soften the skin and reduce wrinkles by restoring the skin’s lipid layer.
Composition
5. Linseed
Botany
Linum usitatissimum L. is a dicotyledonous plant of the Linaceae family. It is commonly known as linseed or flaxseed.
It is an annual herbaceous plant that is characterized by its straight, tall and fragile stem that rarely exceeds one meter in height and branches at the top, supporting alternate, linear and lanceolate leaves. Its flowers are
white or blue and they produce globose spheres formed by five lobes. Each one of them contains two seeds. These seeds are light brown, oval-shaped, sharp at the end and shiny-looking. Together with the stem, linseed seeds, also called flaxseeds, are the most commonly used part of the plant.
Linseed is a winter annual species. There are two main types: oleaginous linseed, cultivated for its seminal oil, and textile linseed, cultivated for its stem fibers. It is a species of great economic importance.
Linseed oil is obtained from the seeds of Linum usitatissimum L.
Chemistry
Linseed seeds have around 30 and 45% of lipid fraction, with linolenic acid (C18:3) as their main component. The other components of these seeds are proteins (20-30%), carbohydrates representing approximately 30% of their weight, lignans, phenolic compounds, mineral salts and vitamins.
Although about 41% of linseed seeds are a fatty fraction, a very small amount of it is saturated, with the rest (more than 70 %) being polyunsaturated fat. One of the most important features of this fraction is the high proportion of α-linolenic acid in relation to its linoleic acid content. Other plant seeds such as corn, sunflower or peanut contain omega-6 fatty acids, but linseed seeds are the only ones containing these levels of α-linolenic acid (omega-3).
Traditional uses
Linseed or flaxseed seeds are an ancient crop that has been harvested for at least 8000 years. It was established in Europe by Neolithic tribes circa 5000 BC. The Latin name usitatissimum (very useful) refers to the contribution of linseed in human culture. Linum comes from the Celtic word lin (thread) and refers to one of its uses.
The seeds have long been used as food and medicine. Currently linseed is used, among other uses, as a laxative, emollient (Hippocrates already recommended it as an emollient in the 5th century BC), resolutive, demulcent, antitussive, pectoral, diuretic, refreshing, soothing, antiseptic, antidiarrheal and antispasmodic agent. It is also used as a treatment for diabetes, colds and intestinal inflammations, bronchitis, coughs, gastritis, rheumatism and liver disorders. In dietetics, linseed seed is used as a source of polyunsaturated acids essential for health.
In external applications, the seeds are ground and mixed with water to create a kind of paste used in the preparation of hot poultices as a remedy for abscesses and scalds and in the treatment of burns, as well as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Flaxseed oil is used in pharmacy for the preparation of different types of ointments. For instance, linimentun calcis is an oily-calcareous preparation made with flaxseed and lime water, which is useful for the treatment of burns, or spiritus saponis kalini, whose composition includes flaxseed, alcohol and potassium soap useful against rheumatic pain.
COSMETIC PROPERTIES OF VITAOILS
Restoring activity of the skin’s barrier function
The oils contained in Vitaoils are highly valued in cosmetics due to their high content of fatty acids and vitamins A, D and E. This allows Vitaoils to provide in-depth nourishment, while softening the epidermis and reducing skin desquamation.
The lack of essential fatty acids in humans results in skin injuries and damage, which lead to desquamation, dry appearance, and loss of flexibility and softness of the tegument. The keratinization process becomes disorganized, whereas the mitotic index and DNA synthesis are reduced. Skin loses most if its protection functions and perspiration significantly increases. Skin injuries linked to the lack of essential fatty acids improve after the percutaneous application of oils containing a significant proportion of these acids. Therefore, they are used in dermatology and cosmetology in the treatment of dry and wrinkled skin, or in order to facilitate healing, providing a stimulating and tissue regeneration action (Holguera, M.C., 1993).
Vegetable oils and fats, due to their lipophilic nature, are good emollient agents. These compounds efficiently prevent water loss through the epidermis thanks to their excellent occlusive properties (Le Poole,
H.A.C., 1995).
Emollients are mainly lipids and oils that moisturize, soften and improve skin flexibility. These compounds repair skin and have an effect on its permeability, thus improving its barrier function. Stearic, linoleic,
oleic, linolenic and lauric acids are emollient compounds which are commonly used in the cosmetics and dermopharmaceutical fields (Kraft, JN & Lynde CW, 2005).
Phytosterols are known as having good properties as emulsifying agents. It is assumed that due to this property, these active ingredients facilitate oil penetration on the skin and improve its condition (Le Poole, H.A.C., 1995).
Vitamin E also has moisturizing properties, as it helps preserve the hydric content of skin. Repeated topical applications of vitamin E significantly smooth wrinkles and reduce skin roughness (Le Poole, H.A.C., 1995).
When applied superficially, vitamin A helps maintain normal skin conditions, improving healing and dryness. In experiments with animals, it has been demonstrated that topically applied vitamin A increases cell regeneration by 30% and produces a significant thickening of the epidermis. Vitamin A is particularly recommended for skin care for the elderly. Study results have shown that this vitamin can reduce wrinkles
when applied topically and that it can repair dermal damage caused by ultraviolet radiation (CIV, 1992).
For all these reasons, Vitaoils is highly recommended for the formulation of cosmetic products with a moisturizing, emollient and healing action.
Antioxidant activity
Tocopherols are highly effective antioxidant agents. These active principles are responsible for protecting the lipids in cell membranes and cell organelles against oxidation. α-tocopherol, or vitamin E, is the tocopherol type with the greatest biological activity in the body and it is highly important for skin (Le Poole, H.A.C., 1995).
There is evidence that the absorption of vitamin E at a topical level is very high. When applied topically, a high amount of vitamin E has been found both in the stratum corneum of skin and within its deepest viable layers. It has also been demonstrated that this vitamin is directly absorbed by the
hair cortex (Idson B., 1993).
The antioxidant activity of vitamin E is based on its antioxidant activity per se and on its radical scavenging activity.
- Antioxidant activity
Reduction in the formation of lipoperoxides on the skin. The cellular membrane is rich in highly unsaturated phospholipids. The oxidation of these phospholipids, due to both endogenous and exogenous factors, generates lipoperoxides, which destabilize the cellular membrane and cause skin aging. - Radical scavenging activity
It protects cells against free radicals released by lipoperoxides, which are involved in skin aging.
UV rays induce free radical production in the skin. α-tocopherol has a powerful activity against free radicals. This action is particularly useful to stop the chain reactions of free radicals in the plasmatic membrane.
Tocopheroxyl is formed in these reactions. Tocopheroxyl is a low-energy stabilized radical unable to trigger new radical chain reactions. However, it can be regenerated by other reducing antioxidants, for instance vitamin E, or it can be fully oxidized to form stable end products (Idson B, 1993).
The enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) inactivates the superoxide radical in humans. This reactive oxygen species appears when the skin is exposed to UV radiation. A study carried out with guinea pigs concluded that UVA and UVB radiations on the skin produced a partial inactivation of the enzyme SOD. These researchers observed that skin areas previously treated with α-tocopherol acetate showed a greater protection of the enzyme SOD against UVA and UVB radiations (Idson B, 1993).
Therefore, Vitaoils is highly recommended for the formulation of cosmetic products to protect the integrity of both skin and hair against oxidative processes.
Hair conditioning activity
The vitamin A, E and D content of Vitaoils, together with its natural oils content, constitutes a perfect conditioner for all hair types. It has a powerful nourishing effect that makes it particularly suitable for repairing long hair with dryness issues.
There is founded evidence that vitamin E plays an important role in protecting both hair and scalp against excessive heat and dryness, against combing breakage and against chemical treatments.
It has been proved that vitamin E is directly absorbed by the hair cortex. Studies were carried out in which healthy and damaged hair was repeatedly treated (more than 5 cycles) with a shampoo and conditioner at 1% vitamin E acetate. Its capacity to remain on the hair and its degree of hair penetration were assessed. The study revealed that the capacity of vitamin E acetate to settle on the hair has a cumulative effect. Moreover, it was observed that this capacity is greater on damaged hair than on healthy hair.
Finally, it was also detected that the capacity of vitamin E acetate to settle on the hair was higher when it was formulated as a component in a conditioner than when it was formulated as a component in a shampoo (Idson B., 1993). Therefore, Vitaoils is recommended to formulate cosmetic products with hair conditioning and repairing activity.
Anti-hair loss activity
Essential fatty acids also have an effect on hair metabolism. A deficit in essential fatty acids leads to skin manifestations such as scalp dermatitis, alopecia and hair depigmentation. These symptoms can be reversed with the topical application of oils rich in linoleic acid.
Skolnik, P. et al (1977) carried out a study on a 19-year-old male subject, who was fed with fat-free fluids for 4 months using intravenous hyperalimentation. During this period of time, the patient developed signs indicating a deficiency in essential fatty acids. This deficiency, together with the associated skin manifestations (dermatitis, alopecia and hair depigmentation), were reverted after a 21-day topical treatment based on linoleic acid-rich oil.
Vitamin E plays an essential role in preventing hair loss, as it stimulates scalp microcirculation and recovers the dystrophic cells in the hair bulb. The acceleration of microcirculation is due to the fact that vitamin E promotes the recovery of movement of veins and arteries, thus favoring their decongestion (Idson, B., 1990).
Therefore, Vitaoils is suitable for the formulation of cosmetic products against hair loss.
COSMETIC APPLICATIONS
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Khallouki F. et al. Consumption of argan oil (Morocco) with its unique profile of fatty acids, tocopherols, squalene, sterols and phenolic compounds should confer valuable cancer chemopreventive effects. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2003, 12:67–75.
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