Biopein®

Over the years, there have been several attempts to use botanicals in self-preserving formulations or to be added as natural preservatives. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing natural preservatives for use instead of synthetics due to the numerous reported complications such as carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, liver, kidneys, heart, or nervous system problems. Such effective natural preservatives are not commonly available.

However, as early as 1975, Isacoff formulated two fragrance mixtures to be added to aid preservation and not to be incorporated as active ingredients. An attempt was made to develop an effective natural blend, "Biopein®," for natural cosmetics and similar preparations. The components of this suggested blend were mixed in such proportions to obtain a broad spectrum of preservative activity manifested by a synergistic effect between the different chemical ingredients. This will also lead to lower toxicity because, in a blend, lower amounts of the individual chemical components are used to achieve a particular activity level, which can only be obtained by using a considerably higher amount of a single component.

Biopein® is a synergistic combination of Botanical Fractions of the following herbs:

• Origanum vulgare L. and Thymus vulgaris L. contain effective Phenolic ingredients, Carvacrol, and Thymol.
• Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees mainly contains cinnamaldehyde and Eugenol.
• Rosmarinus officinalis L. contains 1,8-Cineole, Camphor, a-Pinene, and also small amounts of Rosmarinic acid.
• Lavandula officinalis L., which contains Linalyl acetate and Linalol.
• Hydrastis canadensis L., which contains Berberine and Hydrastine alkaloids.

It is a proprietary complex that showed the ability to inhibit various organisms, including possible pathogenic organisms that may be introduced into the products, at a lower concentration than certain commonly used synthetic preservatives. Biopein®  has demonstrated itself to be an effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent. Therefore, its composition and use as a natural alternative for product preservation are in a patenting process.