FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS
help us efficiently cope with stress. They are used in skin care products to
help calm and sooth the skin, reduce redness and promote a more even complexion. When consumed orally, Reishi is reported to help modulate histamine reactions to allergen triggers.
Tremella mushroom Tremella mushrooms (Tremella fuciformis), also known as the snow fungus is used in skin care products due to its high water-retention properties. They can provide moisturization, increase skin elasticity, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Shiitake mushroom Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) contain kojic acid and is used in skin care products to improve skin complexion. Kojic acid is a natural skin-lightening agent that can hep to fade dark spots, hyperpigmentation, sunspots, age spots, and acne scars. Shiitake mushrooms also have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Chaga mushroom Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is valued for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support. It is reported to help maintain overall skin health, enhance skin tone and texture, and to provide protection from external stresses. Chaga mushrooms contain melanin which is
thought to protect our skin from DNA damage by absorbing UV light.
Cordyceps mushroom Cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris) when used in skin care products is reported to help improve skin elasticity, promote collagen production, and enhance skin firmness. When consumed orally, Cordyceps supports
mitochondrial function, increases metabolic energy, and reduces fatigue.
Turkey tail mushroom Turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) have significant antioxidant properties and are valued for their immunomodulating properties. In skin care products they help to promote a healthy skin microbiome and when consumed orally they help to support a healthy gut microbiome.
King trumpet mushroom King trumpet (Pleurotus eryngii) is valued for its high content of the unique fungal antioxidant ergothioneine. Ergothioneine is an amino acid compound with antioxidant activity that helps to prevent the formation of damaging reactive oxygen species and protects against UV- induced damage to skin cells. When consumed orally, this very stable
antioxidant helps protect the degradation of other active antioxidants such as glutathione from degrading, thus helping to maintain their integrity and provide defence against environmental stresses for extended periods of time.
Multifaceted activities from an array of bioactive compounds Mushrooms are a good source of bioavailable
www.personalcaremagazine.com Figure 2: Mushroom life cycle
micronutrients that are often lacking in our diets. Beyond the nutritional elements, mushrooms also provide an array of other many bioactive compounds that support beauty from within. Functional mushrooms are highly valued
for their immunomodulating properties, for their antioxidant activity against free radical damage, and for their prebiotic support of the probiotic gut microbiome. Mushrooms provide an array of antioxidant
compounds included, ergothioneine, glutathione, polyphenols, beta glucans, and selenium compounds provide protection against oxidative damage from free radicals. Beta glucans help support immune
function. The pre-biotic activity of functional mushroom also plays a key role in the promotion of a healthy microbiome and in supporting the gut/skin axis.
Beta glucans Mushroom cell walls are rich in beta glucans consisting of long or short-chain polymers of glucose subunits with β-1,3 and β-1,6 linkages. The cell wall of mushrooms is a complex structure composed of beta glucans, chitin, and mannoproteins. All mushrooms produce beta glucans,
however each species produces beta glucan compounds that can vary in molecular weight, solubility, and side chain attachments. Beta glucans are surprisingly multifunctional compounds that can function as immunomodulating agents, as prebiotic
dietary fibres to support a healthy microbiome, as anti-inflammatory agents, anti-wrinkle agents, skin moisturizers, wound-healing agents and as antioxidants that impact many aspects of beauty when taken orally or applied topically. Despite the large size of intact beta
glucan molecules, they are known to enter the stratum corneum and epidermis, penetrating deep into the dermis. They do not enter the cell directly but penetrate the skin through the intercellular space.4 Oral consumption of mushroom-derived
beta glucans supports our health and wellbeing in many ways. Fungal beta glucans, despite their large size, can be taken up by the M cells of Peyer’s patches in the small intestines, and interact with macrophages or dendritic cells (DCs) and activate systemic immune responses to overcome pathogenic challenges. If not taken up in the small intestine, beta
glucans pass through to the large intestine and colon where they function as prebiotic fibre that provides nutrition and platforms for the growth of the probiotic micro-organisms that comprise our gut microbiome. The digestion of otherwise indigestible beta glucans by probiotic micro-organisms produces short- chain fatty acid (SCFA) compounds that provide additional health benefits. Recent research indicates that topical
applications of beta-1,3-D glucans affect Langerhans cells in our skin. A Langerhans cell is a tissue-resident macrophage that is present in
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