- Pioneering project in Catalonia based on the extraction of polyphenols, an antioxidant substance present in the cork, to incorporate them into cosmetics and take advantage of their anti-aging properties.
- The Beauty Cluster Barcelona linked both companies for the development of the project
- Biogründl has received a 77,500 euros grant from ACCIÓ to develop this project in collaboration with the
Catalan Cork Institute under the INNOTEC programme. - The consortium seeks to reuse by-products of the cork industry that are not considered valuable and use a more sustainable extraction methodology avoiding other similar cases that involve derivatives of the petroleum.
For this innovation project, Biogründl has received a grant of 77,500 euros to develop the project with the Catalan Cork Institute within the framework of the INNOTEC program of ACCIÓ – the Catalonia Government Agency for the Competitiveness. This program covers up to 70% of the cost of R&D and innovation projects developed between Catalan companies and technology developers, such as research groups from universities and technology centres.
Within the framework of the project, Biogründl and the Catalan Cork Institute are analysing different systems for extracting polyphenols from cork in order to use them as active ingredients with antioxidant properties for cosmetic uses. Cork is the bark of the cork oak and its chemical composition is different from other parts of the tree, as it includes substances that can be extracted using different types of solvents, such as phenolic compounds and, specifically, polyphenols. These chemical substances have diverse applications in other industries thanks to their biological characteristics, among which the antioxidant, antibacterial or anti-inflammatory properties stand out, for example.
The project focuses on the antioxidant properties of these cork components. According to the CEO of Biogründl, Ruth Margalef, “we all know that we age because we oxidise and therefore polyphenols, as they are antioxidants, should also be able to use as active ingredients to slow down the natural ageing process”. When the project, which has a duration of two years, is finished, efficacy tests will be carried out to verify the capacity of the polyphenols obtained from cork as anti-aging agents.
“We knew studies from other countries that tried to find applications of cork for the cosmetics industry, but they were based on unsustainable extraction methodologies that often use petroleum derivatives”, explains the head of microbiology at the Catalan Cork Institute, Maria Verdum. “Our methodology for extracting compounds uses ecological materials, such as aqueous solvents, vegetable oils or other materials from green chemistry,” she says.
The project focuses on the antioxidant properties of these cork components. According to the CEO of Biogründl, Ruth Margalef, “we all know that we age because we oxidise and therefore polyphenols, as they are antioxidants, should also be able to use as active ingredients to slow down the natural ageing process”. When the project, which has a duration of two years, is finished, efficacy tests will be carried out to verify the capacity of the polyphenols obtained from cork as anti-aging agents.
In this way, the project is framed within the principles of the circular economy: “We seek to reuse different elements of the cork industry that currently have a very low value but we believe we can give them a second application with a much higher added value,” explains Margalef. For his part, Verdum reminds us that “apart from trying to reuse by-products of cork that are not suitable for the production of stoppers, we also want to offer an incentive to the industry so that they have more resources to take care of the forests and give them more yield in a sustainable way”.
Biogründl, with a staff of thirty workers located between Barcelona and Tarragona, was founded in 2002. It has a presence in several European countries, Southeast Asia and Latin America and exports approximately 30% of its turnover. About the Catalan Cork Institute, it’s based in Palafrugell (Girona), was founded in 1991 and is currently a private foundation of public scientific interest. Its main objective is to promote the sustainable development of the entire value chain of the Catalan cork sector, as well as the conservation and responsible use of cork oaks.
