Stable, homogeneous natural product extracts containing polar and apolar fractions

Abstract

Disclosed are stable, homogeneous dispersions, comprising (a) from about 20 to 90% by weight of a first composition comprising (i) about 60-95% by weight of a first polar solvent, (ii) about 0-40% by weight of one or more second polar solvents, and (iii) water soluble components of a first natural product; and (b) from about 10 to 60% by weight of a second composition comprising: (i) one or more apolar solvents, and (ii) oil soluble organic components of a second natural product; and (c) from about 0.01 to 8% by weight of a non-surface active lipid phosphate or a surface active agent. Also disclosed are methods of forming the stable, homogeneous dispersions of the invention, comprising forming a first composition comprising water soluble components of a first natural product; forming a second composition comprising oil soluble organic components of a second natural product; mixing the compositions and subjecting the mixture to high pressure high shear processing to form a stable, homogeneous dispersion.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 544,649, filed Apr. 6, 2000, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) of provisional application serial No. 60 / 127,930, filed Apr. 6, 1999.[0002] This invention is directed to the field of compositions comprising natural product extracts for use in personal care products or pharmaceuticals.[0003] Natural products and natural product extracts are often used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. Natural products, particularly botanically sourced natural products, have demonstrable beneficial properties on the skin and hair. Extracts of these natural products have demonstrated antimicrobial, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, enzyme stimulation or inhibition, pigmentation enhancement or control, photoprotective and many other physiological benefits.[0004] Typically, the solvent systems used to produce these extracts are polar in nature, and most typically are water or glycols or a ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of obtaining a composition comprising both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic components of a natural product or blend of natural products.

Problems solved by technology

There is currently no single universal solvent capable of only extracting both the desired polar and apolar fractions.

As a result, typical natural product extracts only provide a portion of the physiologically or aesthetically beneficial components.

It has not been possible to date to combine an aqueous extract with a lipid or other apolar phase into a single system without the use of surface active agents and special processing conditions to form emulsions or dispersions.

However, these surface active agents may be irritating to users, and the processes used to prepare the emulsions or dispersion make them difficult to reproduce.

Simple solvent extraction is usually insufficient to remove the protected material from the cell.

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