Freshwater Cladophora glomerata as a new potential cosmetic raw material
Joanna FABROWSKA*, Bogusława ŁĘSKA, Grzegorz SCHROEDER – Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Please cite as: CHEMIK 2015, 69, 8, 491–497

Currently, algae and their extracts are one of the most commonly
used natural cosmetic raw materials [1]. This is due to the presence of
biologically active compounds in their thalli such as carbohydrates, fatty
acids, and polyphenols, which determines the multidirectional algae
cosmetics to the skin. The cosmetic market is dominated by preparations
containing marine algae. Generally, there are produced only cosmetics
with marine species of algae, such as: Laminaria ochroleuca, Fucus
vesiculosus, Ulva lactuca, Chondrus crispus, Corallina officinalis. This
algae are applied to almost every types of cosmetic products: creams,
masks, balms, shampoos, shower gels, as well as make-up cosmetics
and make-up removers [2].
Cladophora glomerata is a filamentous green macroalga with
a typically branched thalli (Photo 1) [3]. Algae from the genus
Cladophora occur both in marine and in freshwater habitat. Cladophora
glomerata is a cosmopolitan species mass occurring in Polish inland
waters in the form of free-floating mats on the water [4]. So far,
researchers have mainly focused on studies on marine species of the
genus Cladophora to determine biologically active compounds in
them [5 – 7]. It turned out, that these algae contain such bioactives
as: saturated and unsaturated fatty acids [5], sterols, terpenoids [6], as
well as phenolic compounds [7]. On the other hand, a few research
have been conducted on the freshwater Cladophora and its application
as a natural source of bioactive substances [8 – 10]. Hence, it is worth
to continue studies on the new direction of research on freshwater
algae as a potential cosmetic raw materials.

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