Consumers desire products with minimal ingredients that are safe, highly functional, provide multiple benefits and are sustainable. Nature-identical ingredients meet these needs and have potential to be produced in a cost-effective manner with minimal carbon footprint. The relationship of wellness for the body, environmental concerns, maintenance of plant diversity and medicinal efficacy are important considerations to support the use of nature-identical ingredients. These considerations will be further discussed in the sections that follow.

Dihydroxymethylchromone (noreugenin) is an excellent case study example of a multi-functional natural molecule that can be synthesized and possess the same medicinal properties of the natural form.

Numerous marketing and consumer interest studies show that western adults have a general preference for natural products over artificially manufactured ones (1, 2). This is particularly true for food, medicine, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies. Wellness-focused skincare includes association with the “harmony of nature,” sustainable natural ingredients and protecting the environment. Preserving biodiversity, optimizing production processes, renewable resources, sustainability and acting responsibly are all priorities for consumers of products with natural ingredients.

Beyond this trend, agricultural-focused studies show that conventional agriculture compared to organic agriculture results in a 30-50% lower crop yield with organic farming practices (3). In 2020, the American Farmland Trust (AFT) reported that roughly 4 million acres of farmland were converted to highly developed urban land uses between 2001 and 2016 because of human population movement (4, 5). The analysis also revealed that low-density residential land use (essentially, sparse suburbanization) expanded even more rapidly and contributed to the loss or fragmentation of nearly 7 million acres of farmland over the same time. Such rates of farmland conversion could accelerate given the potential of future changes in lifestyles caused by societal shifts and the impact of climate change (5).

Advances in molecular biology including gene expression and the use of biomarkers have created the ability to rapidly measure and compare the medicinal activity of natural plant components to synthetic versions. For example, dihydroxymethylchromone (DHMC) is a natural restorative molecule found in numerous medicinal plants. DHMC is a highly effective, multifunctional natural molecule (6). Plants containing DHMC grow mainly in South America and Asia as a tropical environment is necessary for plant growth and DHMC production in the plant. Even in this environment DHMC production remains low in the plant and is hard to extract with a reasonable carbon footprint.

The challenge is that with such low plant concentration extracting this molecule on an industrial scale is cost prohibitive. DHMC was synthesized and found to possess the same medicinal benefits including anti-aging properties (7, 8, 9, 10) compared to the natural molecule, showing antioxidative, anti-inflammatory activity and other properties contributing to preserving the skin’s extracellular matrix, including stimulating hyaluronic acid production in keratinocytes in vitro and supporting dermal collagen renewal in ex vivo evaluations. DHMC inhibits key enzymes in the aging process, including elastase and hyaluronidase and reduces release of MMP-1 in non-irradiated fibroblasts in vitro. In vitro and ex vivo gene expression studies support the multiple molecular pathways that make DMHC multifunctional. Human clinical type studies confirm results obtained from the in vitro and ex vivo studies. DHMC is found to have retinol-like activity without causing irritation, demonstrating a soothing sensation while countering the appearance of aging skin (10).

Nature-identical ingredients can offer significant environmental advantages compared to traditional plant extraction methods. The extraction process from plants in some cases can be challenging as with DHMC. For this reason, a more sustainable synthetic synthesis method was developed that minimizes the carbon footprint while ensuring safe and reproducible composition and properties of DHMC. Water consumption was optimized, CO₂ production was eliminated, resulting in high yield and purity. The nature-identical DHMC is biodegradable and is a sustainable ingredient (10).

A common comment with respect to natural ingredients is that rigorous scientific studies are lacking in published scientific journals. When studies of natural products are evaluated in a clinical type of study, it is not uncommon that the test material contains a mix of molecules, and the activity of a specific molecule remains undetermined. Studies with nature-identical molecules eliminate this uncertainty. Several studies were conducted on nature-identical DHMC. Gene expression studies were conducted with skin explants that show the mechanisms of activity for the ability of DHMC to fight inflammation, antiwrinkle effects, promote cell proliferation, antioxidant activity, collagen renewal, and skin elasticity. The results were compared to published studies for retinol and in a clinical comparison study (10). Additional studies were conducted that show DHMC has antipollution activity against oxidative stress. Two vital pathways were identified showing that DHMC works via the NRF2 pathway and LC3B, cellular detoxifying pathways activated by oxidative stress. In vivo studies were conducted comparing DHMC to retinol under supervision of an expert grader and volunteer self-assessment recorded. DHMC performed as well or exceeded retinoid for overall skin appearance/quality, unified complexion, softer feeling skin, smoother skin and moisturized skin. Wrinkle reduction was comparable to retinol as well (10).

Consumers currently desire products with minimal ingredients that are safe, highly functional, provide multiple benefits and are sustainable. Nature-identical ingredients meet these needs and have potential to be produced in a cost-effective manner with minimal carbon footprint. The challenge is reaching the consumer with information regarding the benefits nature-identical ingredients provide. If the consumer is interested in the ingredient, it will eventually come to the attention of the formulator/product marketing. Conducting appropriate studies with the consultation of experienced scientists and dermatologists is equally important. The studies ideally should be published in respected peer reviewed journals. Compelling well conducted studies will eventually reach the attention of popular consumer magazines aided by recommendations of dermatologists and other skin/hair care experts who have reviewed the publications in scientific journals. In summary, the successful ingredient will be supported with good scientific data, appropriate test protocols, a strategy of what information to publish, when and where to publish.