Mexican students use mushrooms to develop cosmetics

Mexico City: Students at Mexico's National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) are using the anti-inflammatory and antibiotic properties of different mushrooms to produce cosmetics with anti-aging effects, the institution said on Friday.

Team leader Nestor Naranjo said the students have been working with mushrooms of the Agaricus and Pleurotus genera, which are rich in their content of chitin, a protein with the healing properties, Efe reported.

They also contain vitamins B1, B2, C and D, and minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper, magnesium and zinc.

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"We decided to produce cosmetics such skin creams - variations for the body and the face -- and shampoos and hair rinses," Naranjo, a tenured professor at the Inter-Disciplinary Research Center for Regional Integral Development (CIIDIR), said.

The lotions moisturize and clean the skin and in "many cases," combat superficial skin conditions or diseases, which has created demand for the products in some municipalities and rural communities where the team has begun a small-scale marketing effort.

The shampoos, according to Naranjo, help promote healthy and shiny hair because the bio-particles they contain strengthen the capillary fibers, nurturing and hydrating the hair.

The line of cosmetic products includes an anti-blotches cream for day or overnight use that is mild enough to be used on all types of skin.

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For the team, the next step is securing financing to launch a commercial enterprise.

"As a research center, we will offer the microbiological testing to certify the safety of the products," Naranjo said.