The Spanish ingredient supplier’s latest move for its oral UV protection business in APAC is in South Korea, where its ingredient Nutroxsun has obtained the approval from the authorities to make the health claim ‘may help to maintain skin health from skin damaged by UV radiation.’
Nutroxsun is a combination of rosemary and grapefruit extracts.
South Korea is also the first APAC country where the company has obtained a health claim for its oral UV protection ingredient, after Canada, where there are already three health claims attached to the ingredient.
They are 1) helps to improve the skin’s response to small amounts of UV oxidative stress, 2) provides antioxidants, and 3) helps reduce wrinkle depth and increase skin elasticity approved.
The company took about four years to apply and obtain the health claim approval from the South Korean authorities, Ignacio Cartagena, VP of sales told NutraIngredients-Asia.
The company first entered into the APAC market in Japan and Malaysia five years ago.
Although South Korea is already a major beauty market back then, the company decided that it was better for them to launch the product after obtaining the health claim.
South Korea was also the only Asian country where the regulatory framework allows the company to register the health claim on the ingredient.
‘We think it is very important to launch the product with the health claim approved from the beginning.
‘This is because if you were to launch the product before getting the health claims approved, how are you going to communicate and differentiate your product from the others with less science behind it?’
The ingredient can be incorporated into capsules, tablets, and sachets, and the company is working with South Korean contract manufacturing firm Natural F&P in introducing this product to more finished product brands in the South Korean market.
He said there has been a growing demand for oral UV protection in Asia, where the company saw a sales growth of 50% in this area between 2018 and last year.
This was not the case when the company first started in Asia, as most people associated UV protection with sunscreen.
To date within APAC, the ingredient is most popular in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. In total, the ingredient is sold in more than 20 countries.
He explained that the popularity of the ingredient in Asia was because Asian consumers have a higher awareness of the damage that long UV exposure has on the skin. There is also a long tradition of beauty-from-within in the region.
Eat and apply
The company believes that it is important to take a complementary approach which encompasses both ‘eating and applying’ when using UV protection products.
‘To us, it is about eating and applying. We tell our customers that both topical and oral use are complementary. Because there are people who do not apply the right amount of sunscreen, or need to reapply, and there are people who forget to apply.’
The company has conducted two clinical studies published in scientific journals in 2014 and 2016.
One of the trials showed that results could be seen in two weeks. Individuals who took 100mg or 250mg of the ingredient had significant improvements in skin elasticity, and skin wrinkles were also shallower.
According to the study, the ingredient works by inhibiting UVR-induced reactive oxygen species and the concomitant inflammatory markers, such as lipoperoxides and cytokines.
Source: Food & Nutrition Research
Skin photoprotective and antiageing effects of a combination of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) polyphenols
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/fnr.v60.31871
Authors: V. Nobile et al
