EU researchers identify cosmetics chemicals in plants

A EU funded research project called Agrocos has successfully isolated new chemicals from plants that can be used in the cosmetics sector, the European Commission has said. Noting “Agrocos looks set to make available commercially viable products for the agricultural and cosmetics industries”, the Commission said 11 compounds and 270 extracts have been recorded in databases. It explained: “In the cosmetics world, the substances will help protect against ultraviolet (UV) rays, delay ageing and prevent hyper-pigmentation, commonly known as age spots.” The announcement follows the examination of around 1,800 species from plants from Africa, the Asia Pacific region, Europe and Latin America.