Aging is a very complex process that is accompanied by a degenerative impairment in many of the major functions of the human body over time. This inevitable process is influenced by hereditary factors, lifestyle, and environmental influences such as xenobiotic pollution, infectious agents, UV radiation, diet-borne toxins, and so on. Many external and internal signs and symptoms are related with the aging process and senescence, including skin dryness and wrinkles, atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, etc. Oxidative stress, a consequence of the imbalance between pro- and antioxidants, is one of the main provoking factors causing aging-related damages and concerns, due to the generation of highly reactive byproducts such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species during the metabolism, which result in cellular damage and apoptosis. Antioxidants can prevent these processes and extend healthy longevity due to the ability to inhibit the formation of free radicals or interrupt their propagation, thereby lowering the level of oxidative stress. This review focuses on supporting the antioxidant system of the organism by balancing the diet through the consumption of the necessary amount of natural ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), essential amino acids, probiotics, plants’ fibers, nutritional supplements, polyphenols, some phytoextracts, and drinking water.

Objective: The objective of this research was the development of cream with sapropel extract on the emulsifying base and the investigation of the possibility for cream samples to be in future applied in medicine, cosmetics, and veterinary.Methods: To carry out the research a set of methods (centrifugal, thermal, and potentiometric) to analyze colloidal and thermal stability and determine pH values of the tested samples were used. Organoleptic characteristics of the tested samples and possible signs of physical instability were studied. Rheological properties of the samples were determined on the rotating viscometer. The method of microscopic analysis was carried out to analyze the stability of the emulsion system.Results: The research outcomes revealed that all the prototype samples have thermal and colloid stability, neutral pH value, and consistency that depends on the content of the oil phase and the emulsifying mixture. The samples, containing 15% of Vaseline oil and 4% and 6% of emulsifier no. 1, have low viscosity indexes, and the sample with 10% of emulsifier has a rather dense consistency. The samples containing 20% of oil phase possess unsatisfactory organoleptic properties. Since the sample with 4% of emulsifier possessed low rates of viscosity and phase separation occurred during its storage.Microscopic studies have shown that the sample containing 6% of emulsifier no. 1 exhibits monodisperse and a uniform roundness of drops that indicates the stability of the system.Conclusion: The outcome of the research is the development of the composition of the cream with sapropel extract with the emulsifying base containing 15% of corn oil, 6% of emulsifier no. 1, and 1% of Cetostearyl alcohol and purified water.

The aim of the research was to substantiate the technological parameters of cream production with the sapropel extract and work out the technological scheme for its production. In this study, extract of sapropel from the Prybych deposit, emulsion base, containing corn oil, emulsifier No.1, cetylstearyl alcohol, nisin, euxyl K 100 and purified water were employed. To carry out the research, a set of methods to analyse colloidal and thermal stability was used. Rheological properties of the samples were determined. The method of microscopic analysis was carried out to analyse the stability of the emulsion system. It was proved experimentally that, when producing the cream, it is appropriate to use the phase inversion method, and the emulsification needs to be carried out at 5000 r/m for 20 min. Size and shape of the sample drops, obtained at 5000 r/m, were monodisperse and more uniform, most of which range from 2 to 3 microns that indicates the system stability. The following parameters of technological process were determined: mixing temperature conditions, speed of homogenisation and mixing time.

Humic substances are a group of macromolecular compounds that are non-living organisms, but are products of plant transformation, animal and microbial residues in natural conditions. The studies revealed that humic substances extracted from sapropel have a wide range of biological properties: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, membrane and hepatoprotective. They are capable to increase the activity of metabolic processes in the body and normalize the leukocyte blood formula in leukemia as well. The objective of our work was to determine the presence of photoprotective activity of products with different sapropel extract contents on the model of acute photodynamic skin inflammation in rats. Investigation of anti-inflammatory activity of sapropel extract gel samples was carried out on the model of ultraviolet erythema in rats, which was caused by the irradiator "Promin" ZEMI" with a mercury-quartz lamp of DRT 125-1 type. Complete healing of ultraviolet erythema was observed in the group of animals treated with the sapropel extract gel in concentration of 15% and 10%, respectively on the 6th and 7th days after ultraviolet - irradiation. It should be noted that according to the indices of anti-inflammatory activity and skinfold thickness, the comparison product was significantly weaker to the gels with the sapropel extract. The gel with the sapropel extract in 15% concentration showed the best results.

Hygienic treatment of hands is an effective means of reducing the spread of transient microflora and is considered as one of the most important procedures for preventing the infection transmission by the contact-household way. Hygienic treatment of hands is necessary in public catering establishments, treatment and prevention institutions, for immunity compromised patients, in the period of seasonal diseases, etc. Most antibacterial soaps are based on synthetic surfactants using such synthetic antibacterial additives as triclosan, triclocarbanum, farnesol, benzalkonium chloride, pyroctonolamine. Therefore, development of soaps containing natural substances in their composition is relevant. Aim. To develop a soap with sapropel, which would have the antibacterial effect and satisfactory sensory properties. Materials and methods. To make the soap the liquid corn and castor oils, solid palm and coconut oils, as well as argan oil were selected as a superfatting agent. Oil saponification was carried out with sodium hydroxide solution. The quality of the samples obtained was assessed by the organoleptic and physicochemical parameters (the qualitative number (the mass of fatty acids calculated with reference to the nominal weight of a soap bar of 100 g), the mass fraction of free caustic alkali, the mass fraction of sodium products calculated with reference to Na₂O, the temperature of fatty acid (titer) gelation, the mass fraction of sodium chloride). Results and discussion. By the indicators of the saponification value of the selected components of the soap fatty base containing 43.8 % of palm oil and 25 % of coconut oil, 6.2 % of corn oil and 25 % of castor oil, and with the necessary consistency properties, soap ductility, high solubility and foaming in cold water the amount of alkali needed for making soap has been calculated. According to the results of determination of the soap consumer properties the concentration of argan oil has been chosen. As a result of studying the organoleptic and physicochemical parameters of the soap with 5 and 10 % of sapropel it has been found that the soap obtained by the cold method meets the standards for soap of the brand “Special” with disinfectants or therapeutic additives. Conclusions. The soap composition containing 5 and 10 % of sapropel has been proposed. In the laboratory conditions the cold and hot methods for obtaining the soap with sapropel have been tested. It has been found that the samples obtained by the cold method meet the requirements of the normative documentation in contrast to the soap with the unsatisfactory organoleptic parameters obtained by the hot method.

Humic acids (HA) are important natural compounds that are characterized by a wide range of biological activity and therapeutic impact on different pathological processes. Sapropels are natural healing resources that contain a large amount of HA. The pharmaceutical market of Ukraine needs domestic drugs with dermatotropic action based on natural compounds that have a combined antibacterial, wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity, as well low toxicity. The aims of the research: standardization of the gel under the conditional name "Saprogel" for use in medicine as a wound-healing and anti-inflammatory agent, development of methods for identification and quantification, as well as their validation. A linear dependence between the concentration of the total mass fraction of HA on the mass of the sample of aqueous sapropel extract (ASE) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9985 (≥0.9981) was observed, while the angular coefficient of linear dependence (b) was found to be 1.02, with the free member of linear dependence (a) being – 1.66≤2.60. The obtained results show that the method is precise because the value of the relative confidence interval is less than the critical value for the convergence of the results: Δ%=1.27≤1.60 and the criterion of the insignificance of systematic error: δ=0.51. As a result of the quantitative analysis, we found that the total mass fraction of HA in the gel samples from the wind farm is 1.302%.