Sea lavender (Limonium algarvense Erben) seeds as a promising source of cosmetic ingredients

Sea lavender is a medicinal species endemic to the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Although its flowers and leaves have already been studied, the potential of its seeds as a source of bioactive components has never been studied. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate sea lavender seeds as a source of new cosmetic ingredients. Ultrasound-assisted extracts of water, ethanol, acetone, and ethyl acetate were evaluated for their antioxidant activity, metal chelation, inhibitory potential of enzymes related to cosmetic uses (lipase, elastase, tyrosinase) and cytotoxicity towards mammalian cell lines. The total contents of phenols, flavonoids and tannins were also determined. The most active extract was selected for metabolomic analysis by LC-MS. The aqueous extract was the most active in antioxidant (DPPH: EC₅₀=0.296 mg/mL; ABTS: EC₅₀=0.506 mg/mL; FRAP: EC₅₀=0.230 mg/mL), copper chelation (EC₅₀=0.678 mg/mL) and tyrosinase inhibition (EC₅₀=0.450 mg/mL), as well as containing the highest levels of phenols (96.5 mg/g DW GAE) and tannins (76.3 mg/g DW EC). Furthermore, the extracts were not cytotoxic to mammalian cell lines. LC-MS analysis identified choline, L-histidinol and L-isoleucine as the main bioactive compounds. This suggests that sea lavender seeds are a promising source of bioactive ingredients for cosmetic applications.

Funding Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Portuguese National Budget (UIDB/04326/2020, UIDP/04326/2020, LA/P/0101/2020); Operational programmes CRESC Algarve 2020 and COMPETE 2020 (EMBRC.PT ALG-01-0145-FEDER-022121); MJR was supported by FCT program contract (UIDP/04326/2020), LC by FCT Scientific Employment Stimulus (CEECIND/00425/2017), and EF by FCT PhD grant (UI/BD/151301/2121).

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
16. November 2023