Côa Valley’s medicinal plants as potential cosmetic ingredients: cytotoxic and antioxidant screening

Côa Valley is a Northeast region of Portugal, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, and recognised as “the most important open-air Paleolithic rock art site”. So far, little is known about the natural endogenous resources of this territory, namely medicinal plants. According to a preliminary ethnobotanical survey in this region, several medicinal plants were mentioned to have skin-beneficial effects. However, many of them still lacking scientific validation. Taking into account the results gathered during the survey carried in the CôaMedPlants project, the main goal of this investigation is to assess the cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of selected species to incorporate them into scientific-validated plant- based cosmetic formulations and create an exclusive cosmetic brand for Côa Valley. Therefore, nine species were selected and their hydroalcoholic extracts (EtOH 80%) were prepared. Their non-cytotoxic concentrations were determined in vitro using the Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts (NHDF) cell line, by the evaluation of metabolic activity through the Alamar Blue​ assay, and cell mass estimation according to the sulforhodamine B​ (SRB) assay.

Most of the extracts revealed non-toxic concentrations≤0.2 mg/mL using the NHDF cell model. Afterwards, non-cellular techniques were used to screen the antioxidant activity of these ethanolic extracts, through DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC and FRAP assays. From the 9 species studied, the most promising so far are: Arbutus unedo L., Cistus albidus L., Cistus salviifolius L., Lavandula pedunculata (Mill.) Cav. and Pistacia terebinthus L., which will be further investigated in-depth, to characterise their antioxidant potential using in vitro cell models.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 November 2023