BACKGROUND The skin represents a potent barrier to the environment, which can be enhanced by the topical application of skin care products, such as oil and oil-based formulations by moisturizing the skin. METHODS The aim of this study was the investigation of the penetration behaviour of four vegetable oils and of paraffin oil into the stratum corneum by laser scanning microscopy. In addition...

The jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) plant produces esters of long-chain alcohols and fatty acids (waxes) as a seed lipid energy reserve. This is in contrast to the triglycerides found in seeds of other plants. We purified an alcohol-forming fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase (FAR) from developing embryos and cloned the cDNA encoding the enzyme. Expression of a cDNA in Escherichia coli confers FAR ac...

The present investigation was carried out with the objective of formulating a gellified emulsion of benzoyl peroxide, an anti-acne agent. The formulations were prepared using four different vegetable oils, viz. almond oil, jojoba oil, sesame oil, and wheat germ oil, owing to their emollient properties. The idea was to overcome the skin irritation and dryness caused by benzoyl peroxide, making t...

The objective of this study was to distinguish between males and females of jojoba (Simmondisia chinensis) using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers in order to detect any DNA variation. A callus was produced from both male and female jojoba leaves, using MS medium with BA 0.5 and 2 to 4, D 2.5 mg/l respectively. Genomic DNA of jojoba plant was extracted using CTAB method. The conce...

There is growing interest in recovering ferulic acid from plant sources for use as feedstock for several high-value applications. Jojoba meal was examined as a potential source of ferulic acid. The feruloyl esterase domain of the Clostridium thermocellum cellulosomal xylanase was employed to hydrolyze ferulic acid from defatted jojoba meal. Esterase treatment produced 6.7 g of ferulic acid/kg o...

Storage triacylglycerols (TAG) in plant seeds are present in small discrete intracellular organelles called oil bodies. An oil body has a matrix of TAG, which is surrounded by phospholipids (PL) and alkaline proteins, termed oleosins. Oil bodies isolated from mature maize (Zea mays) embryos maintained their discreteness, but coalesced after treatment with trypsin but not with phospholipase A2 o...

Surfactant-free emulsions by adding jojoba oil, squalane, olive oil, or glyceryl trioctanoate (medium chain fatty acid triglycerides, MCT) to electrolytic-reduction ion water containing lithium magnesium sodium silicate (GE-100) were prepared, and their physiochemical properties (thixotropy, zeta potential, and mean particle diameter) were evaluated. At an oil concentration of 10%, the zeta pot...