As an important oral cosmetic material juxtaposed with collagen, hyaluronic acid will undoubtedly inject a new force into China’s functional food industry.
Skincare effect of hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is a kind of acidic mucopolysaccharide, which is widely distributed in all parts of the human body. it has a variety of important physiological functions, such as water retention of skin, lubrication of joints, regulation of vascular wall permeability, regulation of protein, promotion of wound healing, and so on.
Sodium hyaluronate is a kind of straight-chain macromolecular polysaccharide produced by fermentation of Streptococcus Equi epidemic subspecies on the medium of glucose, yeast powder, and peptone. The effects of the two are similar, except that hyaluronic acid is an acid and sodium hyaluronate is a salt. Sodium hyaluronate, which contains sodium, is more stable and has smaller molecules that can be absorbed and infiltrated into the deep layers of the skin more effectively.
The effect of sodium hyaluronate on skin is mainly reflected in three aspects:
Moisturizing effect
Moisturizing is the most important role of sodium hyaluronate, sodium hyaluronate has a strong water absorption capacity, can absorb 1000 times its own volume of water, forming an elastic viscous matrix to fill in the gaps of the tissue, is the natural water-retaining agent of the skin.
Nutritional effect
Sodium hyaluronate is an inherent substance of the skin, and exogenous sodium hyaluronate is an endogenous supplement to the skin. Small molecules of sodium hyaluronate can go deep into the epidermis of the skin, promote the supply of skin nutrients and the excretion of waste, so as to prevent skin aging and play a certain role in anti-wrinkle.
Repair effect
Sodium hyaluronate can promote the repair of skin injury by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of epidermal cells, accelerating the regeneration of epidermal cells, promoting the healing of injured skin, and also has a certain effect on UV-induced burns.
In addition, sodium hyaluronate is an important component of articular cartilage. Oral sodium hyaluronate can effectively relieve arthritis symptoms and protect joint function. Proper intake of hyaluronic acid can reduce the contents of bone resorption markers pyridine and deoxypyrinol to the normal level and increase bone mineral density.
At first, the development of sodium hyaluronate was mainly based on cosmetics, eye drops, bone, and joint injection, but now, sodium hyaluronate appears as an important beauty and skincare ingredient in oral beauty products. Studies have shown that oral sodium hyaluronate also has an effect. The amount of hyaluronic acid reached the peak within 2 hours after eating hyaluronic acid. With the consumption of hyaluronic acid, the content in the body will decrease after 2-4 hours. However, after 4 hours, after digestion, the concentration of raw materials for hyaluronic acid synthesis in vivo increased, thus increasing the acceleration of hyaluronic acid synthesis, and the peak value of hyaluronic acid content appeared again.
Oral Beauty Market and Sodium Hyaluronate
The average annual compound growth rate of new food, beverages, and dietary supplements with skin health claims in the world from 2017 to 2019 was as high as 58%. It is also found that the application of the new generation of beauty ingredients is beginning to surpass traditional beauty ingredients such as vitamin C and vitamin E. For example, hyaluronic acid is the fastest growing key ingredient in the release of food, beverage, and dietary supplements with skin health claims, with an average annual compound growth rate of 59% over the past five years.
In the survey of ingredients related to skin elasticity and moisture, the vast majority of respondents believe that collagen has the greatest effect on skin elasticity, followed by water, hyaluronic acid, elastin, lipids, vitamins, and minerals.
With the addition of sodium hyaluronate into new food raw materials, the scope of use can be expanded to dairy and dairy products, beverages, alcohol, cocoa products, chocolate, and chocolate products (including cocoa butter chocolates and products), as well as candy and frozen drinks. The recommended consumption is less than 200 mg/day, which is not suitable for infants and young children, pregnant women, and lactating women. It has basically covered the mainstream food and beverage applications of sodium hyaluronate, and a large number of new product applications are expected in the next 1-2 years.
Common application combinations with sodium hyaluronate
1. Sodium hyaluronate + collagen
Most oral beauty products add hyaluronic acid and collagen at the same time, both of which are important components of skin and articular cartilage. Sodium hyaluronate mainly rehydrates and moisturizes the skin, while collagen increases skin elasticity and anti-aging. The combination of the two can achieve the effect of 1+1 >2.
2. Sodium hyaluronate + astaxanthin
As one of the strongest antioxidant substances in nature, astaxanthin has strong antioxidant activity, which makes it a potential photoprotective agent, which can scavenge free radicals that cause skin aging, protect the cell membrane, and mitochondrial membrane from oxidative damage, and prevent skin photoaging.
Sodium hyaluronate also has a certain effect on repairing skin damage caused by ultraviolet rays, and the combination of the two is often used with beauty products that are protected from ultraviolet stimulation and help skin lock in water.
3. Sodium hyaluronate + GABA/L- theanine
Emotional sleep has also been a hot topic in recent years, and sodium hyaluronate is often found in sleep-related products, which can be used in partnership with GABA, L-theanine, and melatonin to get twice the result with half the effort.
4. Sodium hyaluronate + aminosaccharide + chondroitin
Sodium hyaluronate is not only the skin but also the main component of synovial fluid. It is secreted by synovial cells, fibroblasts, and chondrocytes. It has a variety of physiological functions, such as regulating protein expression, assisting the diffusion and transport of water and electrolytes, and promoting wound healing. It plays an important role in the protection of articular cartilage. It is often used in combination with amino glycans and chondroitin to relieve joint inflammation and pain.
Summary
Compared with collagen, sodium hyaluronate is not only colorless and tasteless, but also soluble in water, so it will not change the original properties of the product, so it has stronger advantages in food and beverage applications and can be easily added to various applications.
Thus it can be seen that sodium hyaluronate is likely to become the next hot new food raw material.