Researchers from the University of Torino have developed a novel HPLC–HRMS application for evaluating cosmetic ingredient composition. The application was used to analyze and compare sturgeon eggs, commonly known as caviar, and brill eggs, and their use in beauty creams as lipid sources.
Photo Credit: Leon Rafael/Shutterstock.com
Researchers from the University of Torino, Italy, have developed a novel high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC–HRMS) application for evaluating cosmetic ingredient composition. The application was used to analyze and compare sturgeon eggs, commonly known as caviar, and brill eggs, and their use in beauty creams as lipid sources (1).
Lipids are regularly used in cosmetics because of their positive attributes, particularly with regards to skin creams. These characteristics make lipids particularly useful as emollients and moisturizers, but they are also known to have antioxidant and antibacterial abilities as well as acting as a penetration enhancer. There are three primary lipid sources used in cosmetics: vegetables, such as almond, apricots, olives, and safflower oils, are heavily utilized, while bacteria have been developed which can synthesize fatty acids (FAs); animals are also a source with beeswax, lanolin, and fish oil common sources. In recent years, products using caviar have appeared on the cosmetic market. Caviar is highly coveted as a food stuff; its unique reputation as a luxury of the wealthy places it in the same category as truffles and kobe beef. Consequently, cosmetics produced from it are very expensive. For this reason, researchers investigated brill eggs as a possible alternative because of the latter being considerably cheaper, and its huge availability, as reported in recent marine datasets (2).
Researchers used gas chromatography (GC)–MS to analyze fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) and HPLC–HRMS to analyze triacylglycerol (TAG) in both sturgeon and brill eggs. Results indicated that caviar contained approximately eight times as many TAGs as in brill eggs, as well as a wider variety of TAG species. In particular, the results indicated much lower levels of linoleic acid, which is well documented to influence the metabolic process of the skin (3–6). Caviar was also shown to contain higher concentrations of omega-3 FAs and linolenic and oleic acids.
These results validate the use of caviar as an effective component in cosmetics, eliminating brill eggs as a cheaper alternative because of the inferior levels of well documented beneficial lipids, such as linoleic acid.
References
GC–TOF-MS Finds 250 Volatile Compounds in E-Cigarette Liquids
November 1st 2024A study has used gas chromatography coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer to build an electron ionization mass spectra database of more than 250 chemicals classified as either volatile or semi-volatile compounds. An additional, confirmatory layer of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis was subsequently performed.
AI and GenAI Applications to Help Optimize Purification and Yield of Antibodies From Plasma
October 31st 2024Deriving antibodies from plasma products involves several steps, typically starting from the collection of plasma and ending with the purification of the desired antibodies. These are: plasma collection; plasma pooling; fractionation; antibody purification; concentration and formulation; quality control; and packaging and storage. This process results in a purified antibody product that can be used for therapeutic purposes, diagnostic tests, or research. Each step is critical to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of the final product. Applications of AI/GenAI in many of these steps can significantly help in the optimization of purification and yield of the desired antibodies. Some specific use-cases are: selecting and optimizing plasma units for optimized plasma pooling; GenAI solution for enterprise search on internal knowledge portal; analysing and optimizing production batch profitability, inventory, yields; monitoring production batch key performance indicators for outlier identification; monitoring production equipment to predict maintenance events; and reducing quality control laboratory testing turnaround time.
Multivariate Design of Experiments for Gas Chromatographic Analysis
November 1st 2024Recent advances in green chemistry have made multivariate experimental design popular in sample preparation development. This approach helps reduce the number of measurements and data for evaluation and can be useful for method development in gas chromatography.