The Australian ingredients maker recently unveiled Red Velvet Oil, tomato seed oil sourced from surplus tomato seed waste.
The company has dubbed it an ‘active carrier oil’ packed with lycopene, phytosterols, and essential fatty acids.
It has been billed by the company as a next-generation alternative to ingredients such as bakuchiol and rose hip oil
It also meets the demand of today’s consumer for high-end, eco-conscious products.
The development of Red Velvet Oil is the result of a partnership between Native Extracts and Kagome Australia, a subsidiary of Japanese fruit and vegetable juice major, Kagome Group.
“Kagome Australia had 5,000 tonnes of tomato seed waste which we recognised had potential for phyto compounds that would be of value. We realised what we had here was a really high source of lycopene. Lycopene as a carotenoid has twice the antioxidant capacity to beta-carotene,” said Lisa Carroll, founder and managing director of Native Extracts.
According to the firm, the ingredient contains 12mg of lycopene per 100g.
The company’s research has suggested that the ingredient could have potential in the UV protection category.
“With this ingredient, you are looking at a product that could boost the SPF, help with the protection but also help with repair and maintenance,” said Carroll.
There is also potential in developing acne care products as lycopene can manage sebum.
“Lycopene is really good at sebum control and it’s also good with scarring and wound repair. It would be fantastic for teenage skin,” said Carroll.
Furthermore, the company also believes the ingredient would be interesting for oral care products, as lycopene is known to effects on oral diseases.
Upcycled Ingredient Innovation Hub
Red Velvet Oil is just the start of the partnership between Native Extracts and Kagome Australia.
The firms have also established the Upcycled Ingredient Innovation Hub to develop more upcycled ingredients.
“Australia’s primary industry is huge and there’s so much phyto compound resources going to waste purely because no one is processing it, and we didn’t have a market for it. With Kagome and Native coming together, we can bring it to a large global scale,” said Carroll.
She expressed her excitement in advancing the upcycled beauty movement and highlighted opportunities not just in skin care but other categories such as colour cosmetics.
She revealed that Kagome Australia will soon be processing beetroot and Native Extracts will look into developing a natural red pigment from it.
The company has also processed and upcycled carrot fibres which it has utilised in a scrub formulation with the tomato oil.
Native Extracts will formally be launching Red Velvet Oil in April at this year’s in-cosmetics Global in Amsterdam.
This will be the first time the company will be exhibiting at an in-cosmetics event in a decade as it is working to advance its business in Europe.
