The Oral Beauty Ingredient Development Boom: Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and Certification

The Oral Beauty Ingredient Development Boom

Recently, LePure Yogurt partnered with Bloomage Biotech to launch a hyaluronic acid sodium yogurt product. We can see that ordinary food brands partnering with excellent ingredient manufacturers are also entering the nutritional health camp. Meanwhile, the pursuit of beauty is increasingly trending toward oral consumption. Oral beauty is gaining popularity among young consumers representing new consumption patterns. This demographic typically maintains extreme lifestyles combining workaholism with intense leisure activities, yet are highly health-conscious without wanting to give up unhealthy lifestyles. Thus, oral beauty has found new opportunities: during the 2019 Tmall Global 618 event, oral beauty products were among the top three most popular consumer categories, with platform sales growth reaching 2,266% that year.

HA: The Natural Moisturizing Factor

In 1934, Meyer and Palmer extracted and isolated a macromolecular polysaccharide from bovine vitreous humor. After determination that it contained glucuronic acid, Meyer named it Hyaluronic Acid (HA). Hyaluronic acid is a high molecular weight linear polysaccharide containing alternating N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid residues connected by beta(1-4) and beta(1-3) bonds. It was later isolated from umbilical cord, skin, joint synovial fluid, and rooster combs, confirming its widespread distribution in animal tissues.

[Image: HA molecular structure diagram]

What Is the Scientific Basis for HA Being So Highly Valued?

Hyaluronic acid possesses high viscoelasticity, plasticity, exceptional water retention, permeability, and good bioabsorbability, with broad applications in cosmetics, medicine, and food. Since HA bioactivity and effectiveness are directly related to its relative molecular weight, appropriate molecular weights are selected for different purposes.

High molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMWHA) has excellent viscoelasticity, moisturizing properties, anti-inflammatory effects, lubrication, and drug sustained-release functions, with promising medical applications. HA with Mr>2x10^6 can be used as ophthalmic surgical viscoelastic agents and intra-articular injections. HA with Mr of (1-2)x10^6 has good moisturizing, lubricating, and drug sustained-release properties, widely used in cosmetics, eye drops, skin burn healing, and post-surgical adhesion prevention.

Low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA) and oligomeric hyaluronic acid (o-HA) can inhibit inflammation, promote angiogenesis, facilitate wound healing, exhibit anti-tumor properties, and easily penetrate the dermis. They also serve as activators of immune cells and cytokines, playing roles in the inflammatory and angiogenic phases of wound healing. Therefore, LMWHA and o-HA show promising application potential in immunomodulatory bioactive agent development, though biological activity requires further research.

Development and Application of Hyaluronic Acid (HA)

The carboxyl and hydroxyl groups in HA molecules form intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in aqueous solution, combined with its helical spatial conformation. This chemical structure gives it extremely strong water absorption capability - HA can retain 500-1000 times its own weight in water. It is widely used in cosmetics for lubrication, skin nourishment, water retention, and free radical scavenging to repair damaged skin. Additionally, HA has been successfully applied in ophthalmology, orthopedics, dermatology, and other medical fields due to its water-binding and matrix-swelling properties.

In the late 1980s, oral HA beauty and health products gradually appeared. The basic theoretical basis is that HA taken orally is digested and absorbed, increasing precursors for HA synthesis in the body, thus increasing HA synthesis in skin and other tissues, improving skin water retention, making skin elastic, and reducing wrinkles.

HA cosmetics only act on the skin surface at the application site, increasing surface HA content for local moisturizing effects. Oral HA beauty supplements work systemically, increasing endogenous HA content from the dermis to epidermis for whole-body effects. Taking rooster comb as an example, rooster comb has been enjoyed as a delicacy since ancient times. Rooster comb extract ECM-E contains HA, other glycosaminoglycans, and proteins that are all naturally present in the human body, making it highly safe.

In recent years, an increasing number of oral beauty ingredient manufacturers have been inquiring about HALAL and KOSHER certification. Leveraging its strong certification capabilities and professional after-sales service, SINOQUAL has successfully obtained HALAL and KOSHER certifications for hyaluronic acid, sodium hyaluronate, and collagen beauty ingredients from Qingzhou Guangyu Biotech Co., Ltd., Baoding Feisifu Trading Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Zhiwei Chemical Co., Ltd.

Oral HA Is the New Trend of the Future

Oral HA is a safe, convenient, and easily accepted supplementation route, particularly suitable for elderly populations. It can also be used to develop oral pharmaceutical formulations and related health foods for treating diseases caused by HA reduction. As polysaccharide resources continue to be developed and biotechnology advances, high molecular weight polysaccharide drugs will emerge in large numbers. People urgently hope to administer HA orally. Since HA is a relatively simple polysaccharide structurally, research on oral supplementation will not only advance knowledge of HA utilization but also provide references for oral supplementation research on other high molecular weight polysaccharides.