Natural products are used to cure dermatologic disorders like anti-aging, acne, hives, etc. Natural products are sources of novel drugs and aid in drug development in the pharmaceutical industry, and they are utilized in making formulations and medicinal drugs. Potential sources for anti-aging are leaves, fruits, flowers, and seeds. Pure compounds extracted from Fabaceae and Zingiberaceae have promising anti-aging properties. Some of the natural products used for anti-aging are green tea (Camellia sinensis), papaya (Carica papaya), grape seed (Vitis vinifera), olive (Olea europaea), turmeric (Curcuma longa), berries, sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus), etc. They are used as pharmaceutical formulations. Natural sources contain moisturizing agents, hydroxy acids, vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, sunblock, and skin-lightening ingredients. Natural products are gaining popularity as they are eco-friendly, consumer-friendly, chemical-free, and organic ingredient-based. Thus, natural products can be used in the skincare or beauty industry due to their anti-aging properties.
Top1. Introduction
The skin is the largest organ of the human body and is the most visible indicator of age. Skin acts as a barrier against chemical and biological hazards. Skin facilitates circulatory, neurosensory, and immunological functions and protects the internal tissues. Three layers of tissue make up the skin: Epidermis (the top layer), Dermis (the middle layer), and Hypodermis (the bottom or fatty layer). The skin changes due to several parameters such as a change in the biochemistry of the skin, structural assessments of the skin which includes collagen level, thickness, cell size, and turnover of cells as well as functional assessment such as proliferation rate, Trans epidermal water loss (TEWL), elasticity, neuroperception (Farage et al., 2010).
1.1 Aging Process
Aging is defined as the progressive loss of an organism’s homeostatic balance. The factors causing age can be intrinsic (genetics, ethnicity, hormonal variation, cellular changes) and extrinsic (influence of lifestyle, effects of smoking, photoaging, diet, pollution) (Farage et al., 2008). Skin aging causes damage to the tissues. Lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores, dry skin, and dullness are a few prominent signs of aging.
1.2 Intrinsic Aging
At the cellular level telomeres (structures found in eukaryote) plays an essential role in intrinsic aging (Geserick and Blasco, 2006). Shortening of the telomeres leads to cellular aging of the skin (Roupe, 2001). Aerobic cellular metabolism causes low-grade oxidative damage to telomeres and other cellular components, which accelerates the aging process (Kosamadaki & Gilchrest et al., 2004). The basal cell layer changes drastically and the proliferation of the cells reduces. After that, the epidermis thins and the amount of contact between the dermis and epidermis shrinks creating a smaller exchange surface for nutrition delivery to the epidermis and further impairing basal cell development (Moragas et al., 1993; Makrantonaki et al., 2007). Thin, dry skin, little wrinkles, and gradual loss of dermal volume are all symptoms of intrinsic aging, a physiological process that is unavoidable (Krutmann et al., 2017) (Mora et al., 2016).
1.3 Extrinsic Aging
Photoaging (UV radiation) accounts for 80% of facial aging (Friedman, 2005). The epidermis thickens in extrinsic aging. UV exposure causes skin damage through a number of mechanisms, such as the generation of collagenase, the promotion of an inflammatory response, the formation of sunburn cells, as well as thymine and pyrimidine dimers. Sunburn cells, also known as UV-induced apoptotic cells, have long been employed as markers to assess skin damage brought on by exposure to the sun (Yao et al., 2005). Extrinsic aging is caused by variables in the external environment, including sun exposure, poor nutrition, smoking, and air pollution and it manifests as coarse wrinkles, loss of elasticity, laxity, and rough textured appearance (Mora et al., 2016; Krutmann et al., 2017).
Epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin that causes skin tone and acts as a barrier to water. In young skin, the epidermis is intact whereas in aging skin the cells are damaged. The DERMIS is the middle layer which consists of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels hair follicles, connective tissue, and sweat glands. The dermis contains proteins such as Collagen and elastin which helps to keep the skin healthy and flexible. In aging skin, collagen and elastin are damaged. The inner layer called HYPODERMIS is made up of connective tissues and fat (Maranduca et al., 2019; Someya and Amagai, 2019) (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Skin structure difference between young and aging skin