EC Nutrition

Opuntia milpa alta, as a plant with both medicinal and edible values, is rich in a variety of bioactive substances, especially its polysaccharide (O. milpa alta polysaccharide, MAP), which exhibits excellent properties in tyrosinase inhibition, antioxidant activity, and moisture-absorbing capacity, suggesting that it has a wide range of potential applications in the field of whitening and moisturizing. In this study, we used water as the solvent, extracted MAP by both ambient and heated extractions, and thoroughly investigated its whitening and moisturizing efficacy. The results of the study showed that the yields of MAP (MAP-1 and MAP-2) obtained from ambient and heated extractions were 5.66% and 4.87%, respectively, with sugar content of 82.18% and 93.87%. Activity assays showed that MAP-2 was superior in antioxidant activity, while MAP-1 was more efficient in inhibiting tyrosinase and hyaluronidase, and had better moisturising and hygroscopic properties than MAP-2. We chose MAP-1 as the raw material, and successfully developed a whitening and moisturising gel, efficacy measurements and volunteer trials showed that the MAP-1 gel ingredient performed well in whitening and moisturising. Based on this study, MAP-1 is expected to be a high quality whitening and moisturising cosmetic ingredient.

 Keywords: Opuntia milpa alta; Polysaccharide; Tyrosinase Inhibition; Antioxidant Activity; Whitening; Moisturizing

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