including creams, lotions, and ointments, while nutricosmetics are those products
that produce evident benefits but have to be ingested orally (Manela-Azulay and
Bagatin 2009; Hyde et al. 2010). Currently, among the used mushrooms in the
cosmetic industry are included mainly edible ectomycorrhizal truffles such as Tuber
uncinatum, Tuber melanosporm Vitt., Tuber magnatum Pico Vitt., Tuber aestivum,
Choiromyces maeandriformis, and Tuber brumale Vitt. A product called ‘‘rodarom
white truffle’’ is a water soluble extract from the highly appreciated ‘‘whitish truffle’’
(T. aestivum) and is commercialized by the Company Croda Inc. The product is
recommended according to the site Innovadex (2013) ‘‘…in use in mature skin care,
eye serums, salon hair care, facial care for men and milk baths…’’. Also there is a
patent describing a cosmetically acceptable gel containing an active complex, with a
starting substance constituted by an aqueous extract from real truffles patented by
Golz-Berner and Zastrow (2005), in the US Patent 6843995. The patent description
claims that this cosmetic preparation improves stimulation of the immune system,
has a regenerative effect and an improved balance of the skin and is also effective
against hair loss. It is claimed that truffles are selected among different high-quality
species of truffles in the genera Tuber or Choiromyces or mixtures of them. Ceramides are waxy lipids, which are one of the main components of the epidermis of
human skin. Together with cholesterol and saturated fatty acids, ceramide creates a
water-impermeable, protective organ to prevent excessive water loss due to evaporation. Topical ceramides have shown to improve barrier function of damaged skin,
reducing skin sensitivity, and responsiveness to environmental stress, thus leading to
reduction in skin appearance problems such as red blotchiness (Bissett 2009).
For this reason they have been used in cosmetics as epidermal hydrating agents but
they are expensive due to their scarcity. Ceramides have been found in some EEMs
as the ‘‘Chinese truffle’’ (Tuber indicum) (Gao et al. 2004), the ‘‘scaly hedgehog’’
[Sarcodon imbricatus (=Sarcodon aspratus)]; the ‘‘osiroisimeji Japanese mushroom’’ (Lyophyllum connatum) (Yaoita et al. 2002, 2003); the ‘‘pink-tipped coral
mushroom’’ or ‘‘Houkitake in Japanese’’ (R. botrytis) (Yaoita et al. 2007), and
R. cyanoxantha (Gao et al. 2001). Novel ceramides have been also isolated
from other EEMs such as Cortinarius lucorum (Fr.) Karst. (=C. umidicola Kauff.)
(Liu et al. 2003). Other compound that has been used in the cosmetic industry is the
lycopene, which is an antioxidant pigment, and has been used, in the cosmetic
industry due to their potential natural sun protective benefits and collagen production, a natural anti-aging skin compound. Lycopene has been recorded in some
EEMs such as Suillus variegatus and Suillus bovinus caps, but particularly in the
stems of this latter species (Robaszkiewicz et al. 2010), thus potentially these species
could be used in the cosmetic industry.
Natural pigments Eyal and Spencer (1990, 1992) reported that the cultivated
mycelium through submerged fermentation of a mutant strain of the ‘‘yellow
morel’’ [M. esculenta (=Morchella rotunda)] was able to produce blue (indigo) and
a red-purple pigments. The bright blue pigment is claimed to be safe and nontoxic, useful in ‘‘… food … cosmetic and textile coloring…’’ and possible to
extract with chloroform, ether, or ethyl acetate as a dark blue solution very stable,
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J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes
that produce evident benefits but have to be ingested orally (Manela-Azulay and
Bagatin 2009; Hyde et al. 2010). Currently, among the used mushrooms in the
cosmetic industry are included mainly edible ectomycorrhizal truffles such as Tuber
uncinatum, Tuber melanosporm Vitt., Tuber magnatum Pico Vitt., Tuber aestivum,
Choiromyces maeandriformis, and Tuber brumale Vitt. A product called ‘‘rodarom
white truffle’’ is a water soluble extract from the highly appreciated ‘‘whitish truffle’’
(T. aestivum) and is commercialized by the Company Croda Inc. The product is
recommended according to the site Innovadex (2013) ‘‘…in use in mature skin care,
eye serums, salon hair care, facial care for men and milk baths…’’. Also there is a
patent describing a cosmetically acceptable gel containing an active complex, with a
starting substance constituted by an aqueous extract from real truffles patented by
Golz-Berner and Zastrow (2005), in the US Patent 6843995. The patent description
claims that this cosmetic preparation improves stimulation of the immune system,
has a regenerative effect and an improved balance of the skin and is also effective
against hair loss. It is claimed that truffles are selected among different high-quality
species of truffles in the genera Tuber or Choiromyces or mixtures of them. Ceramides are waxy lipids, which are one of the main components of the epidermis of
human skin. Together with cholesterol and saturated fatty acids, ceramide creates a
water-impermeable, protective organ to prevent excessive water loss due to evaporation. Topical ceramides have shown to improve barrier function of damaged skin,
reducing skin sensitivity, and responsiveness to environmental stress, thus leading to
reduction in skin appearance problems such as red blotchiness (Bissett 2009).
For this reason they have been used in cosmetics as epidermal hydrating agents but
they are expensive due to their scarcity. Ceramides have been found in some EEMs
as the ‘‘Chinese truffle’’ (Tuber indicum) (Gao et al. 2004), the ‘‘scaly hedgehog’’
[Sarcodon imbricatus (=Sarcodon aspratus)]; the ‘‘osiroisimeji Japanese mushroom’’ (Lyophyllum connatum) (Yaoita et al. 2002, 2003); the ‘‘pink-tipped coral
mushroom’’ or ‘‘Houkitake in Japanese’’ (R. botrytis) (Yaoita et al. 2007), and
R. cyanoxantha (Gao et al. 2001). Novel ceramides have been also isolated
from other EEMs such as Cortinarius lucorum (Fr.) Karst. (=C. umidicola Kauff.)
(Liu et al. 2003). Other compound that has been used in the cosmetic industry is the
lycopene, which is an antioxidant pigment, and has been used, in the cosmetic
industry due to their potential natural sun protective benefits and collagen production, a natural anti-aging skin compound. Lycopene has been recorded in some
EEMs such as Suillus variegatus and Suillus bovinus caps, but particularly in the
stems of this latter species (Robaszkiewicz et al. 2010), thus potentially these species
could be used in the cosmetic industry.
Natural pigments Eyal and Spencer (1990, 1992) reported that the cultivated
mycelium through submerged fermentation of a mutant strain of the ‘‘yellow
morel’’ [M. esculenta (=Morchella rotunda)] was able to produce blue (indigo) and
a red-purple pigments. The bright blue pigment is claimed to be safe and nontoxic, useful in ‘‘… food … cosmetic and textile coloring…’’ and possible to
extract with chloroform, ether, or ethyl acetate as a dark blue solution very stable,
186
J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes