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Title: SOYSCREEN: A SUNSCREEN ACTIVE AGENT FROM SOYBEAN OIL

Author
item Laszlo, Joseph
item Compton, David - Dave
item Warner, Kathleen

Submitted to: Soybean Research World Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2004
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Concerns have been raised about the potental adverse health and ecological effects of the commonly used sunscreen active ingredients. A sunscreen active ingredient can be derived from two natural plant components, ferulic acid and triglycerides. Transesterification of ferulic acid ethyl ester with soybean oil produces a mixture of feruloylated monoacyl- and diacylglycerols that have a strong UVA/B absorbance. The reaction is catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B. We examined the influence of operating conditions on the service life of the immobilized enzyme in packed beds. Unreacted ferulic acid ethyl ester and ethyl esters of fatty acids can be separated from the product by molecular distillation. The recovered materials are converted to sunscreen product by a second round of reaction with the biocatalyst, demonstrating a synthesis of a plant-derived, environmentally benign sunscreen. Fields of use for the derivatized oil beyond skincare applications will be discussed.