Potencial de aplicação do biossurfactante produzido pela levedura Scheffersomyces shehatae em cosméticos

Abstract

Most cosmetic products intended for skin cleansing feature surfactants as an important component of their formulation, mainly as emulsifiers and foaming agents. However, the use of synthetic surfactants can cause toxicity problems for users, in addition to environmental damage associated with their production and disposal. Biosurfactants are surfactants of natural origin and compared to synthetic surfactants they are more biodegradable and have low or no toxicity. Thus, in view of the cosmetic industry's need to develop products with more natural and renewable active ingredients to replace or reduce the use of synthetic surfactants, this work aimed to investigate the suitability of a biosurfactant produced by the yeast Scheffersomyces shehatae to be used in cosmetic applications. The evaluation of the cytotoxicity of the biosurfactant was performed using the MTT test in fibroblast cell lines L929 and keratinocytes HaCaT. The potential for ocular irritation was assessed by the hen's egg chorioallantoic membrane test (HET-CAM). The evaluation of the cleaning efficiency of the biosurfactant was measured as the removal ability of make-up in pig ear skins in comparison with water, 1% SDS solution, and a commercial formulation of micellar water. The results showed that the concentration that affects the viability of 50% of the tested cells (IC50) was 10.49 mg/mL for L929 and 11.77 mg/mL for HaCaT, which is higher compared to other values described in the literature for biosurfactants tested in skin cell cultures. Exposure of the chorioallantoic membrane to the biosurfactant produced by S. shehatae (60 mg/mL) did not result in hemorrhage, lysis and coagulation damages, which classifies the biosurfactant solution as non-irritant. Finally, the efficacy of the biosurfactant to act as a makeup remover was comparable to the cleansing activity of 1% SDS solution, a surfactant widely used in skin and hair cleansing formulations by the cosmetic industry. In conclusion, the results indicate its potential use in cosmetic applications.