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2022

To cosmetic companies: These production technologies have now set off a wave of raw material manufacturing!

At present, the raw material production technology mainly includes four types: animal and plant extraction and separation and purification technology, chemical synthesis , biological fermentation and synthetic biology ; among which chemical synthesis technology is more traditional, mainly used in auxiliary raw materials and the production of some sunscreens and moisturizers ; Natural plant extraction technology and biological fermentation technology are the current mainstream of the industry; and synthetic biology is the development direction of future production technology.

Modern botanical extraction technology has become a craze under the trend of pure beauty

Animal and plant extraction and separation and purification technology refers to the technology of extracting active ingredients from natural animals and plants. The ingredients extracted from plants are mainly vegetable oils (volatile oils), flavonoids, polyphenols, polysaccharides , etc., which are used in the fields of whitening, anti-aging, moisturizing, sunscreen and antiseptic .

The ingredients extracted from animals are mainly animal oils , animal mucopolysaccharides , placenta extracts, silk hydrolyzates, bee products, lecithin, collagen, etc., which are used in moisturizing, soothing, emollient, anti-aging, antibacterial and other fields .

At present, the common technologies are: traditional production technologies such as water extraction , alcohol extraction , organic solvent extraction, and steam distillation, as well as supercritical CO2 extraction technology, microwave extraction technology, ultrasonic extraction technology, biological enzymatic hydrolysis technology, and semi-biomimetic technology. Extraction technology and other modern production technologies.

Natural plant extraction technology has become a craze under the "pure beauty" trend. Taking China as an example, the prospectus of Rhine Biotech and Chenguang Biotechnology, the leading plant extraction companies, stated that the development of plant extraction technology has a long history, but the technology is uneven, and the technical barriers of traditional extraction methods such as acid-base extraction and organic solvent extraction are low. , resulting in low industry concentration. According to data from the Prospective Research Institute, only 4.5% of plant extraction companies in China with annual sales of more than 20 million yuan in 2020.

In recent years, international leading companies such as Ashland and Croda have pointed out that consumers increasingly value and require ingredients to be natural or natural derivatives, and "pure beauty" with natural ingredients is one of the global trends. The Asialand report shows that there are 15,466 products with natural claims in the products of international multinational companies , and the category compound growth rate from 2015 to 2020 is 10% .

International leading raw material enterprises take natural plant extraction technology as one of their core competitiveness. For example, the Crodarom sub-brand of Croda is dedicated to plant extracts. Through self-developed microwave extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction technologies, all combination parameters ( solvent, temperature, extraction time, target active substance, plant tissue, particle size ) are subdivided to select more Effective plant extraction technology, reduce environmental pollution, and achieve personalized customization.

(Report source: Future Think Tank)

Bethany has extensive technical reserves in plant extraction technology. Now we are working to screen out the active ingredients that can solve the corresponding skin problems from more than 6,500 kinds of Yunnan characteristic plants, and we are also working hard to promote the formulation of plant raw material standards.

In 2021, Bethany Research Institute will independently/jointly successfully develop a variety of Bethany exclusive actives, such as Physalis calyx extract, kidney tea extract, peony root bark extract, green thorn fruit ceramide, Pu'er tea extract Three generations of encapsulated particles of Tengchong Hot Spring, Tengchong Hot Spring, etc.

In addition, Proya has obtained patents on the extraction of high-purity lecithin and red ginseng extract from guava leaves, pine nut oil, and camellia oil cakes. Shanghai Jahwa in a variety of traditional Chinese medicine extracts, vegetable fruit oil and vegetable seed oil, Artemisia annua extract, fish extract, Xingcao extract, peppermint extract, mugwort extract, ginseng extract, burdock extract, Cistanche bulb extract, Numerous patents have been accumulated on barley sprout extracts, young perilla leaf extracts, sunflower sprouts and chickpea seed extracts. However, Huaxi Biology and Lushang develop plant extraction patents less.

Chemical synthesis is traditional, mainly used in the production of auxiliary materials, synthetic sunscreens, and synthetic moisturizers

Chemical synthesis refers to the use of natural resources or simple molecules to synthesize compounds with special properties or more complex through a series of chemical reactions such as oxidation, reduction, alkylation, and acylation.

These include basic compounds (ethanol, acetic acid, acetone, etc.) and fine compounds (synthetic polymers, etc.). Most of the cosmetic raw materials formed by chemical synthesis are mainly used as auxiliary materials to change the cosmetic sensory form and maintain the stability of cosmetic ingredients (such as surfactants, thickeners, emulsifiers, preservatives, antioxidants, synthetic flavors and fragrances, and synthetic coloring). agents, etc.), as well as sunscreens and synthetic moisturizers.

Chemically synthesized raw materials can also achieve the performance of natural raw materials, and in contrast, the production is more standardized and efficient. However, chemical synthesis techniques have defects in the production of functional actives, such as long synthesis paths, complex conditions, and large environmental pollution.

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Bio-fermentation technology is the mainstream and hot spot of the industry at this stage

Bio-fermentation technology is a modern biological high-tech using enzyme engineering, microbial metabolic engineering and biochemical engineering, that is, using the growth characteristics of cells and biocatalytic system to react with organic substrates to obtain target active products in a targeted manner. React synthetic substances or cells. Fermentation microorganisms include fungi, bacteria and protists, among which fungal fermentation includes medicinal fungi fermentation, yeast fermentation and marine fungi fermentation.

Microbial fermentation can not only synthesize easily absorbed small molecules such as amino acids, organic acids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, but also produce macromolecules with important functions such as polysaccharides, polypeptides or proteins. It can not only produce functional active ingredients, but also produce Auxiliary materials such as surfactants. For example, Gluconobacter can produce vitamin C, which has anti-aging and whitening effects, while Escherichia coli can produce glycine betaine as a raw material for non-ionic surfactants.

It is worth noting that biological fermentation technology is currently the mainstream of the industry . The advantages of biological fermentation technology lie in the following three points:

Technically has better controllability and safety

Production energy saving, less environmental pollution

The results can enrich effective substances, reduce toxicity, and even develop new functions

In recent years, on the one hand, domestic and foreign enterprises have carried out large-scale production of raw materials with biological fermentation technology. For example, Bloomage Bio uses the characteristics of Streptococcus to produce hyaluronic acid, and realizes large-scale production of sodium hyaluronate through biological fermentation technology; on the other hand Through the research and development of skin care active ingredients based on biological fermentation broth, it has become a selling point, such as SK-II skin care essence, Lancome small black bottle, Estee Lauder small brown bottle, Herborist Tai Chi Yeast Essence, etc.

Synthetic biotechnology is the future direction of production technology

Synthetic biology is the "third revolution in biological science" following the discovery of the DNA double helix (1953) and the sequencing of the human genome (2003).

Synthetic biology brings together and integrates many disciplines such as life science, engineering and information science , and has broad application prospects in many fields such as natural product synthesis, chemical industry, bioenergy, and biomedicine .

The goal of synthetic biology is to write DNA to direct an organism to respond according to designed specifications. In order to achieve the goal, it is necessary to assemble the biological elements into genetic circuits , and design and modify the genetic circuits to realize the new cells or organisms to respond according to the designed specifications.

By inputting substances such as glucose, methanol, oleic acid and glycerol , and designing and modifying the gene route, the yeast cells will efficiently output products such as astaxanthin, β-carotene and lycopene according to the design specifications . The types of cosmetic raw materials that can be developed include natural products such as astaxanthin, resveratrol, glycosides, squalene, etc., and industrial chemicals include ethanol, butanol, glycerol, and organic acids.

Synthetic biotechnology is the driving force of future industry development, and the growth trend is obvious . According to SynBioBeta data , the amount of financing for synthetic biology startups in 2021 will reach 18 billion US dollars , which is 2.3 times that of 2020 and 5.8 times that of 2019 . According to Web of Science, the number of synthetic biology-related papers and patents published in 2021 will reach 8,132, an increase of 98.7% compared to 2010.

In 2020, the US market research BCC Research released "Synthetic Biology: Global Market".

The report data shows that the global market size directly driven by synthetic biology has reached 5.319 billion US dollars in 2019 , and is expected to reach 18.885 billion US dollars by 2024 , with a compound annual growth rate of 28.8% from 2019 to 2024 .

From the perspective of market size in different fields around the world, medical and health-related applications dominate the commercialization of the synthetic biology industry, while in the fields of food, agriculture, consumer goods and chemicals, there are important market opportunities, and relevant market segments are spaced. is growing at a high CAGA level.

In terms of geographic market size, the global synthetic biology market is dominated by North America and Europe, accounting for 58.5% and 23.6% of the total global market share in 2019, respectively ; Asia Pacific is the third largest market, accounting for the total global market share in 2019 15.1% , and there is still a significant gap with North America.

Compound ingredients have become a model for R&D companies to raise barriers

In addition, in addition to the above four cosmetic production technologies, compound ingredients have also become a new model for R&D companies to raise barriers.

With the increasingly fierce competition in the cosmetics industry, imitation raw materials have become the key to breaking new products and new brands. Single-molecule raw materials are relatively easy to imitate. Once the patent protection period expires, popular ingredients often usher in tens of millions of added products. However, due to the ambiguity of its formula, the compound solution is difficult to completely imitate, and the compound ingredients can be independently applied for trademark protection intellectual property rights, which further enhances the barriers; in addition, under the plant extraction technology and biological fermentation technology, the origin and production environment of the raw materials Performance has a dramatic impact, making key ingredients more difficult to replicate.

To sum up, as of now, the four major domestic production technologies have become the mainstream of raw material manufacturing, synthetic biotechnology is the driving force for future industry development, and the best model for R&D companies to raise barriers is compound ingredients.