Ingredient's Bio Activity

ROYAL JELLY (Royal Jelly)


ABOUT THE INGREDIENT

Royal jelly is a white-yellowish, milky secretion that comes from the throat glands of honeybees. The female nurse bees feed these secretions to bee larvae during the first few days of life. Royal jelly contains a single protein, called royalactin, which is at least one of the components responsible for turning an ordinary female bee, into a queen. They grew larger than normal, became better procreators and lived longer.

Believed to be the ingredient responsible for the queen bee’s longevity and fertility, royal jelly is why the queen bee grows to be 42% larger than the worker bee. She lives five to seven years (compared to a worker bee’s seven weeks) and lays over 2000 eggs per day. It’s thought that royal jelly, and now just perhaps royalactin, are able to cause such changes in bees because it is a substance that is “recognized” by a protein called EGFR which is already existent in the bees chemistry and is known to be able to sense epidermal growth factor hormones.

Royal jelly was reserved only for royalty because it was considered incredibly precious. Now, it is more widely available and is a choice ingredient in many clean skincare lines.


ACTIVE COMPONENTS

Rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5 & B6, C, D & E, natural acetylcholine, hormones, enzymes, minerals, amino acids, flavonoids, nucleic acids, sterols, DNA, RNA, gelatin, and immune proteins that protect bees against infection.


BENEFITS IN COSMETICS

 

ANTI-AGING

Royal Jelly protects against skin aging by enhancing collagen production. It increases the level of collagen and procollagen type 1 protein.

Royal Jelly and some of the Royal Jelly- derived fatty acid, in particular 10H2DA, protect the skin cells against ultraviolet A- and B- induced ROS related oxidative damage, decrease cellular senescence, stimulate the production of procollagen type I by inducing transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) production, suppressing MMP-1 and MMP-3 activity at the transcription and protein levels through the inhibition of the p38 and JNP-AP-1 signaling pathway, and providing estrogenic effect. Estrogen also promotes collagen production by stimulating the secretion of TGF-β1, increasing the elasticity and firmness of the skin, while decreasing wrinkles depth and pore size.

Peptide P5, based on the queen maker protein royalactin, consists of a 5 amino acid sequence that is prominent in several growth factors. The peptide promotes Skp-1 upregulation in aged skin cells resulting in rejuvenation of specific protein populations. Stimulating the production of important mitochondrial components helps to preserve the skin’s natural vitality.

In addition, Royal jelly is highly moisturizing and affects hydration of the intracellular structure by raising skin’s moisture and retaining water in it, which smooth down age lines.

 

ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

Royal jelly is rich in antioxidant vitamins B, C and E that help to soothe the skin and fight free radical damage, which contributes to premature aging. Royal Jelly has a strong reducing power for the free radical scavenging effect to suppress the oxidative stress process. Therefore, it protects the skin from UVB-induced photoaging by increasing cellular antioxidants and suppressing inflammatory cascade.

 

ANTIMICROBIAL

Royal jelly contains a bactericidal substance called royalisin that has potent antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, Royal jelly also shows efficacy against viruses by inhibiting the growth of the virus and decrease viral load.

 

WOUND HEALING

Due to its anti-inflammatory activity, royal jelly relieves periodontal diseases, inflammation of the oral cavity, tongue and throat. Anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing result from its ability to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1). Moreover, Royal jelly promotes wound reepithelization by increasing keratinocyte migration and wound closure rates. It is also known to have an antibacterial effect, which can keep wounds clean and free from infection.

 

ACNE TREATMENT

Royal jelly normalizes sebum secretion, for seborrheic skin, acne-prone skin where frequently skin lesions and small wounds occur.


SAFETY

Royal jelly is safe when applied appropriately to the skin.