In recent years, the amount of waste deriving from industrial processes has increased substantially. Many industries produce different types of disposable by-products, rich in valuable compounds. Their characterization and valorization could not only convert them into high value products with application in diverse biotechnological fields, such as Pharmaceutics, Food or Cosmetics, but would also reduce the waste environmental impact and the related treatment costs. There are many examples of cosmetic active ingredients deriving from fish, meat and dairy products, but in the present review we would like to focus on the potentialities and the current use of compounds and extracts deriving from agronomical disposable wastes in the cosmetic field. These types of products are effective, inexpensive and bio-sustainable, and thus represent a valid alternative to the regular plant derived extracts, more commonly adopted in cosmetic formulations. Moreover, if the waste products come from organic farming, they are certainly an even more valuable source of safe extracts for Cosmetics, since they lack any residual pesticide or potentially toxic chemical.

The last decades witnessed a great demand of natural remedies. As a result, medicinal plants have been increasingly cultivated on a commercial scale, but the yield, the productive quality and the safety have not always been satisfactory. Plant cell cultures provide useful alternatives for the production of active ingredients for biomedical and cosmetic uses, since they represent standardized, contaminant-free and biosustainable systems, which allow the production of desired compounds on an industrial scale. Moreover, thanks to their totipotency, plant cells grown as liquid suspension cultures can be used as “biofactories” for the production of commercially interesting secondary metabolites, which are in many cases synthesized in low amounts in plant tissues and differentially distributed in the plant organs, such as roots, leaves, flowers or fruits. Although it is very widespread in the pharmaceutical industry, plant cell culture technology is not yet very common in the cosmetic field. The aim of the present review is to focus on the successful research accomplishments in the development of plant cell cultures for the production of active ingredients for cosmetic applications.

Artichoke is a characteristic crop of the Mediterranean area, recognized for its nutritional value and therapeutic properties due to the presence of bioactive components such as polyphenols, inulin, vitamins and minerals. Artichoke is mainly consumed after home and/or industrial processing, and the undersized heads, not suitable for the market, can be used for the recovery of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, for cosmetic applications. In this paper, the potential skin anti-age effect of a polyphenolic artichoke extract on endothelial cells was investigated. The methodology used was addressed to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and the improvement of gene expression of some youth markers. The results showed that the artichoke extract was constituted by 87% of chlorogenic, 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic, and 1,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acids. The extract induced important molecular markers responsible for the microcirculation and vasodilatation of endothelial cells, acted as a potential anti-inflammatory agent, protected the lymphatic vessels from oxidative damage by ROS formation, and enhanced the cellular cohesion by reinforcing the tight junction complex. In addition, the artichoke extract, through the modulation of molecular pathways, improved the expression of genes involved in anti-ageing mechanisms. Finally, clinical testing on human subjects highlighted the enhancement by 19.74% of roughness and 11.45% of elasticity from using an artichoke extract cosmetic formulation compared to placebo cream.

The history of cosmetics develops in parallel to the history of man, associated with fishing, hunting, and superstition in the beginning, and later with medicine and pharmacy. Over the ages, together with human progress, cosmetics have changed continuously and nowadays the cosmetic market is global and highly competitive, where terms such as quality, efficacy and safety are essential. Consumers’ demands are extremely sophisticated, and thus scientific research and product development have become vital to meet them. Moreover, consumers are aware about environmental and sustainability issues, and thus not harming the environment represents a key consideration when developing a new cosmetic ingredient. The latest tendencies of cosmetics are based on advanced research into how to interfere with skin cell aging: research includes the use of biotechnology-derived ingredients and the analysis of their effects on the biology of the cells, in terms of gene regulation, protein expression and enzymatic activity measures. In this review, we will provide some examples of cosmetic active ingredients developed through biotechnological systems, whose activity on the skin has been scientifically proved through in vitro and clinical studies.