CAMELLIA JAPONICA EXTRACT AND COSMETIC COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING SAME

Abstract

Disclosed is a Japanese camellia extract, obtained by extracting Camellia japonica flowers by way of a fatty substance or fatty substance mixture, and to a cosmetic composition including one such extract that has, in particular, a skin-moisturizing effect.

Claims

1. A Camellia japonica flower extract obtainable by means of an extraction process comprising the following steps: a) mixing and impregnation of a Camellia japonica flower powder with a fatty substance or a fatty substance mixture at a temperature above the melting point of said fatty substance or of said mixture and under an atmosphere free or essentially free of oxygen, b) microdispersion of the Camellia japonica flower powder in the fatty substance or said fatty substance mixture at a temperature above the melting point of said fatty substance or of said mixture, under an atmosphere free or essentially free of oxygen, c) heating of the mixture thus obtained at a temperature of between 60 and 180° C. for a period of between 1 and 10 minutes, under an atmosphere free or essentially free of oxygen, it being possible for step c) to be carried out before, during or after step b).

2. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the camellia flower comes from the variety Camellia japonica Alba plena.

3. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio between the Camellia japonica flower powder and the fatty substance in step a) is between 1:0.5 and 1:20, said ratio being expressed by weight/weight of fatty substance or by weight/volume of fatty substance.

4. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fatty substance(s) is a plant oil that is liquid at ambient temperature, a plant butter having a melting point of between 25 and 40° C., or a plant wax having a melting point above 40° C.

5. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein step a) is carried out at a temperature above the melting point of the fatty substance or of the fatty substance mixture used, the temperature being between this melting point and the melting point +20° C., for a period of between 1 and 48 hours.

6. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein step b) comprises a treatment by ultrasonic cavitation, for a period of between 2 and 30 minutes, at a cavitation frequency of less than 100 kHz.

7. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein step b) is carried out at ambient temperature or at a temperature above the melting point of the fatty substance or fatty substance mixture used.

8. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein step c) is carried out at a temperature of between 100 and 150° C., for a period ranging from 1 to 10 minutes.

9. The extract as claimed in claim 8, wherein the temperature of step c) is obtained by means of a microwave treatment having a working power ranging from 500 to 10 000 watts per kilogram of mixture.

10. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Camellia japonica flower powder is provided in the form of a dispersible product obtained by milling at a temperature between −20 and −80° C.

11. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein steps a), b) and/or c) are advantageously carried out in the absence of light or of any oxidizing radiation.

12. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein steps b) and c) are carried out n times; they then correspond to steps bn) and cn), n corresponding to the total number of repetitions of the cycle {(step a)+(step b)}, n being at least equal to 2.

13. A cosmetic composition containing, in a physiologically acceptable medium, at least one Camellia japonica flower extract as claimed in claim 1.

14. The composition as claimed in claim 13, further comprising at least one active agent chosen from moisturizing agents, antioxidants, agents promoting the microcirculation, and mixtures thereof.

15. The composition as claimed in claim 13, wherein the active agent is chosen from: a fermented extract of Thermus thermophilus; an extract of Zingiber officinale root; hyaluronic acid and derivatives thereof; an extract of locust bean pulp; and mixtures thereof.

16. A method for moisturizing and/or protecting human skin against drying out, comprising applying an effective amount of the Camellia japonica flower extract as claimed in claim 1.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the extract or the composition is applied to nonpathological dry skin.

18. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio between the Camellia japonica flower powder and the fatty substance in step a) is between 1:19 and 1:1, said ratio being expressed by weight/weight of fatty substance or by weight/volume of fatty substance.

19. The extract as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio between the Camellia japonica flower powder and the fatty substance in step a) is between 1:9 and 1:3, said ratio being expressed by weight/weight of fatty substance or by weight/volume of fatty substance.

20. The extract as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fatty substance(s) is an oil chosen from camellia oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, sesame oil, apricot kernel oil, grape seed oil, sweet almond oil, safflower oil, hazelnut oil, argon oil, rose musk oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil, jojoba liquid wax, and mixtures thereof.

Description

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of an Oily Extract of Camellia japonica Alba Plena Flowers

[0104] An oily extract is prepared from 2 kg of white flowers of Camellia japonica Alba plena and 9 kg of refined camellia oil.

[0105] The freshly isolated flowers are dehydrated to a solids content of 90% and then cooled to −80° C. so as to be immediately milled in a propeller mill, at a temperature of between −30 and −80° C. A fine powder which has a particle size of between 100 and 300 μm and is uniform is obtained.

[0106] The process comprising the following steps is then carried out: [0107] a) the flower powder and the refined camellia oil are introduced into a closed stainless steel reactor, which is placed under a saturated nitrogen atmosphere. The mixture is maintained at ambient temperature for approximately 24 hours, so as to ensure impregnation of the plant powder with the oil. [0108] b) The mixture is placed in a closed reactor equipped with an ultrasound generator, under a saturated nitrogen atmosphere, and subjected to an ultrasound treatment at a frequency of 20 kHz, at ambient temperature, for 15 minutes. [0109] c) The mixture is placed in a closed reactor equipped with a stirrer and under a saturated nitrogen atmosphere, then subjected to a microwave treatment, under a power of 0.4 kW/kg mixture for a period of 7 min. The maximum temperature reached is 118° C.

[0110] Steps b) and c) are repeated twice successively. Between each step, the mixture is cooled to ambient temperature for 3 h under a saturated nitrogen atmosphere.

[0111] The mixture thus obtained is subjected to centrifugation at 5000 revolutions/min for 15 minutes, at a temperature of 40° C., on a filtering cloth with a porosity of 5 μm, in order to separate the oily fraction (oily extract) from the solid matter (fatty cake) and to obtain a homogeneous liquid extract.

[0112] After a return to ambient temperature, the oily extract obtained is in the form of a homogeneous fluid oil which has a light yellow color and a weak floral odor. In each case, the oily extract obtained has a water content less than 0.2 g/100 g, an oleic acidity of less than or equal to 0.4% and a peroxide number of less than 3 meq O.sub.2/kg.

EXAMPLE 2

Test for Stimulation of KRT2 Gene Expression on Keratinocytes Treated with a Camellia japonica Flower Extract Obtained in Example 1

[0113] Protocol:

[0114] The effects of the extract of example 1 or of the refined camellia oil sold by the company Ardex were evaluated by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), for the purpose of quantifying the expression of the keratin 2 (KRT2) gene in a treated sample compared with a nontreated control sample.

[0115] The results were expressed as percentage increase or decrease in expression of the target gene (KRT2) in the treated sample. The results are standardized with respect to the expression of the same gene in the nontreated control sample, which is fixed at 100%.

[0116] Specifically, the test was carried out on normal human keratinocytes cultured to post-confluencing and then optionally treated for 24 hours, in triplicate. The keratinocytes come from two independent donors.

[0117] The mRNA was isolated using the RNeasy kit (Qiagen) and quantified using the QuantlT Ribogreen kit (Invitrogen) according to the producer's recommendations. The reverse transcription into cDNA was carried out using the iScript Reverse Transcription SuperMix kit (Biorad) also according to the producer's recommendations.

[0118] The quantitative real-time PCR measurement was carried out using the iCYCLER IQ machine (Biorad), the Taqman probes specific for the KRT2 gene and the beta-2-microglobulin gene (reference gene) (Applied Biosystems) and the IQ Supermix (BioRad).

[0119] Results:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Stimulation of KRT2 Concentration.sup.(1) expression (%) Nontreated keratinocytes — 100 Camellia japonica flower 0.025% 170 extract according to example 1 Refined camellia oil 0.025% 93 sold by the company Ardex .sup.(1)the concentrations of the extracts are expressed by weight of crude extract per weight of preparation (the extract obtained according to example 1 being diluted in the culture medium for keratinocyte growth)

[0120] The Camellia japonica flower extract stimulates the expression of the KRT2 mRNA compared with the nontreated control and compared with the comparative sample treated with a refined camellia oil obtained by means of a process (i.e. that of the company Ardex) other than that of the present application.

EXAMPLE 3

Cosmetic Composition (O/W Serum)

[0121] The following composition can be prepared in a manner that is conventional for those skilled in the art. The amounts indicated below are expressed as weight percentages. The ingredients in uppercase letters are identified in accordance with the INCI name.

TABLE-US-00002 % INCI name (weight/weight) WATER QS 100.00 Chelating agent 0.05 pH adjuster 0.05 Preservative 0.05 Glycol 3.25 AMMONIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYLTAURATE/VP 1.20 COPOLYMER ACRYLATES/C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE 0.20 CROSSPOLYMER GLYCERIN 3.00 GLYCERYL POLYMETHACRYLATE 4.18 SODIUM ACETYLATED HYALURONATE 0.05 PEG/PPG/POLYBUTYLENE GLYCOL-8/5/3 2.00 GLYCERIN SODIUM PCA 3.00 Oil 10.00 ALCOHOL 8.00 FRAGRANCE 0.30 ZINGIBER OFFICINALE (GINGER) ROOT 0.10 EXTRACT .sup.1 HYALURONIC ACID & SILANETRIOL & CITRIC 5.00 ACID .sup.2 OLEOACTIF CAMELIA BLANC .sup.3 0.10 CROSSLINKED POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE .sup.4 0.75 HDI/TRIMETHYLOL HEXYLLACTONE 0.75 CROSSPOLYMER & SILICA .sup.5 Locust bean pulp extract 0.10 .sup.1 Blue Malagasy Ginger ® sold by the company Biolandes .sup.2 Epidermosil ® sold by the company Exsymol .sup.3 as described in example 1 .sup.4 Micropearl ® M310 from SEPPIC .sup.5 Plastic Powder ® D-400/BPD-500 ® from Kobo

[0122] This composition can be applied daily, in the morning and/or evening, to skin that is particularly dehydrated and/or exposed to environmental attacks, in order to improve the comfort thereof and to make the complexion uniform.

EXAMPLE 4

Cosmetic Composition (O/W Serum)

[0123] The following composition can be prepared in a manner that is conventional to those skilled in the art. The amounts indicated below are expressed as weight percentages. The ingredients in uppercase letters are identified in accordance with the INCI name.

TABLE-US-00003 % INCI name (weight/weight) WATER QS 100.00 Chelating agent 0.05 pH adjuster 0.05 Preservative 0.05 Glycol 15.00 CARBOMER 0.08 ACRYLATES/C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE 0.17 CROSSPOLYMER GLYCERIN 15.00 DIPENTAERYTHRITYL HEXACAPRYLATE/ 4.3 HEXACAPRATE ISONONYL ISONONANOATE 4.3 FRAGRANCE 0.30 PVP 0.095 AMODIMETHICONE 0.04 ZINGIBER OFFICINALE (GINGER) ROOT 0.10 EXTRACT.sup.1 OLEOACTIF CAMELIA BLANC.sup.2 0.1 SODIUM HYALURONATE 0.01 .sup.1Blue Malagasy Ginger ® sold by the company Biolandes .sup.2as described in example 1

[0124] This composition can be applied daily, in the morning and/or evening, to skin that is particularly dehydrated and/or exposed to environmental attacks, in order to improve the comfort thereof and to make the complexion uniform.