ABSTRACT
The success of the multibillion dollar cosmetic and personal care industry has
been in large part due to constant innovation. This has resulted in bringing
many value-added products to the market. Whether it is use of naturally
derived ingredients for gentler effects or, more recently, the use of therapeutic
high-tech ingredients, changes in the cosmetic industry have been driven by com-
petitive challenges as well as “baby boomer” consumer needs. Advances in geno-
mics and proteomics have led to a deeper understanding of how the human body
functions and have changed the way the personal care industry today identifies
and develops new products. The industry trend is to now use bioactive ingredients
that naturally play a role in growth, maintenance, and repair of our body to
enhance natural processes. This approach has brought proteins and peptides
onto the list of performance bioactive agents that could be used, either in the
form of purified ingredients or as protein extracts. Advances in recombinant
DNA technology have enabled a variety of modifications to be made in proteins
and peptides, either to increase their performance or production or improve their
compatibility with other ingredients, making them more suitable for cosmetic
formulations. This chapter briefly summarizes the nature and properties of pro-
teins and peptides, discusses their current use in personal care products, and high-
lights additional potential applications for their use. The impact of recombinant
DNA technology on identification and production of proteins and peptides as well
as its role in designing knowledge-based performance proteins is reviewed.
The future trends for applications of proteins and peptides in personal care pro-
ducts are also discussed.
