Arla Foods launches phospholipids milk extract

Lacprodan PL-75 is said to be far more compatible with a variety of skin types, easier to formulate and acts as an effective emulsifier. On top of that it also has highly effective moisturising properties making it suitable for a variety of skin care formulations.

Phospholipids are highly useful ingredients for modern cosmetic formulations asthey fulfil a dual and synergistic function for a host of skin care products.

According to Arla, their primary function is emulsification, but at the same time they reduce transepidermal water loss, thus imparting a strong moisturising effect.

Added to its efficacy the ingredient is also said to provide an excellent skin feel, leaving treated areas looking and feeling soft and shiny. Skin feel is an increasingly important area for skin care products, as the wrong consistency can be off-putting to consumers.

But as well as having emulsification properties, phospholipids are also used for modern liposomal formulations, be it to improve themoisturising effect or to encapsulate and protect sensitive cosmetic ingredients.

Conventional phospholipids are extracted from vegetables sources such as soya, making them highly unsaturated, or else from fully hydrogenated vegetable types.

The problem that many formulators face with unsaturated phospholipids is that they are intensively coloured and are highly sensitive to oxidation, which means that they can give off an unsavoury smell and thus do not create very stable emulsions.

Although hydrogenated phospholipids are more stable and less likely to oxidise, they can create formulation problems because of high melting points, complicating the formulation process.

Arla says that contrary to this, its milk phospholipids provide an all-natural solution to these problems, with the addition of certain properties not found in conventional phospholipids.

The high degree of saturation in milk phospholipids - 50 per cent saturated, 35 per cent monounsaturated and 15 per cent poly-unsaturated fatty acids - makes the product a formulation-compatible off-white powder and has a high oxidation resistance.

Because of the blend of fatty acids ranging from C 16to C 24 the chain melting temperature is close to human skin temperature. Thisprovides perfect emulsification properties, the excellent skin feel and perfect moisturebalancing effects - and even ease of formulation.

Furthermore, phospholipid and polar lipid profile of Lacprodan PL-75 is much closer to human skin lipids as it provides a unique phospholipid not present in current phospholipid preparations, called sphingomyelin (SPM).

The company says that SPM is a precursor of ceramides, highly active skin lipid components that have attracted a lot of attention recently because of their anti-inflammatory and skin repair effects.

Another important point is that milk phospholipids are suitable for liposomalformulations. The relatively low chain melting temperature means that liposome formation takes place at slightly above room temperature.

The membranes formed from phospholipids have a high degree of saturation and also containingsphingomyelin, a membrane rigidifier, which means that the ingredient can safely entrapped actives, preventing their valuable efficacy being lost through leakage.