IPN develops mushroom-based beauty products

Researchers at the National Polytechnic Institute ( IPN ) developed mushroom-based beauty products with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties for the skin and the scalp.

The mushroom-based beauty products are part of an ongoing project on the integral use of mushrooms carried out by the Phytotechnology Laboratory of the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Regional Integral Development ( CIIDIR ), campus Durango .

The Head of the project, researcher Néstor Naranjo , explained that some undergraduate students of the Master's Degree in Environmental Management, as well as organizers of independent farmers, already operate establishments where they sell a wide variety of mushroom-based creams and shampoos .

Among the mushroom species most widely used in the beauty industry, the Agaricus and Pleurotus stand out, since they contain high levels of chitin , a protein with healing properties, along with phosphorus , potassium , iron , copper , magnesium , and zinc , and vitamins such as B1 , B2 , C , and D .

"We started with the premise that if you do not eat them, you should apply them to your skin, so we decided to make cosmetics such as skin creams, body and face variations, shampoo and rinses. Plus, cosmetic creams have had a very important acceptance, since they moisturize, clarify and in many cases help to fight certain ailments or superficial diseases of the skin, so they have become a flagship product in many of the communities," assured Néstor Naranjo.

Mushrooms have antioxidant properties, so they act against the signs of aging while mushroom-based shampoos contain microparticles that strengthen the hair fiber , added the researcher.

"Several organizations already commercialize them in different parts of Durango and continually ask us for the raw material, such as extracts , that we prepare here at CIIDIR so that they can prepare them," he concluded.

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