Sustainable Cosmetics Based on Plant Stem Cells

IQS and the company Biogründl are collaborating on the VEG4COS – sustainable cosmetics project based on plant stem cells to change the production paradigm of active ingredients in cosmetics, moving from the use of plant materials to the use of plant stem cells, a future technology within the cosmetics industry. It entails a collaborative project on research, knowledge development, and technology transfer based on plant stem cells for the cosmetics sector, ranging from the ability to generate new lines of plant stem cells that produce biomolecules of interest to the industrialization of a new line of ecological and sustainable ingredients.

VEG4COS is being funded under the NUCLIS R&D call for technological projects 2023, awarded by ACCIÓ (The Catalan Agency for Business Competitiveness) for industrial research and experimental development projects.

Las células madre vegetales se están popularizando en la investigación en el campo de la cosmética, debido a sus potenciales beneficios para aplicaciones dermatológicas y la capacidad de generar nuevos productos más sostenibles. Al no tener origen Plant stem cells are becoming popular in research in the field of cosmetics due to their potential benefits for dermatological applications and their ability to generate new and more sustainable products. As they do not originate from traditional crops, the products obtained from these cells are not seasonal, are produced in situ (without the need for logistics or transport), and do not require the quantities of water necessary for crop irrigation, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of their production.

These stem cells are derived from plant meristems, which are the tissues responsible for plant growth and regeneration, featuring an abundant presence of dedifferentiated cells. Their use has evolved significantly in recent years, but one more step is needed to transfer the technology to the industrial sector.

Biogründl is a pioneering company in the design and production of high value-added products for the cosmetics industry and currently offers a range of products generated from organic farming. For this project, it is joining forces with IQS researchers, who are experts in the areas of biotechnology related to plant cell cultures, to achieve two fundamental objectives:

• Develop plant stem cell lines for the production of biomolecules for applications in state-of-the-art cosmetics products.
• Develop and optimize bioprocesses based on plant stem cell cultures to increase production and reduce production costs.

In the words of Ruth Margalef, CEO of Biogründl, «this collaboration with IQS is a great opportunity to learn and work on research that gives us purpose and applicability as a company, while also allowing us to better understand the world in which we live and do our part to address current social issues such as environmental sustainability.»

Through conducting the VEG4COS project, Biogründl and IQS – Ramon Llull University have also included the offer of an industrial doctorate.

IQS brings the experience of its researchers to various tasks within the project, applying the necessary biotechnology tools.

Dr Pau Leivar, a researcher with the Biological Chemistry and Biotechnology Group (GQBB), is leading the generation phase of the different plant cell lines and their adaptation to suspension cultures. In parallel, in vitro assays of the compounds of interest in human fibroblast cells (cosmetic cell moulding) will be developed.

Dr Martí Lecina Veciana, with the Materials Engineering Group (GEMAT), will contribute his knowledge to the development of the production bioprocess, the optimization of elicitation methods, and the characterization of cell lines. In addition, monitoring tools will be developed for the plants and the implementation of the bioprocess, as well as the implementation of the quality system.

Finally, with the bioprocess established, it will be scaled up to a pilot scale and the batches of biomolecules of interest will be produced, a task in which IQS will participate with the contributions of Dr Lecina alongside experts from Biogründl.