Can a Maple Leaf Help You Look Younger?

HealthDay Reporter

In a new analyze, scientists discovered that sure compounds in maple leaves block the release of an enzyme called elastase, which breaks down a protein termed elastin as folks age. Elastin assists retain pores and skin elasticity.

Former get the job done by the exact same College of Rhode Island scientists discovered that these very same compounds in maple leaves could enable guard skin from swelling and lighten dark spots, this sort of as freckles or age spots.

“You could envision that these extracts might tighten up human pores and skin like a plant-based mostly Botox, though they would be a topical software, not an injected toxin,” principal investigator Navindra Seeram explained in an American Chemical Modern society (ACS) information launch.

These types of items would deliver a new selection for people today who want purely natural, plant-primarily based skincare products, and also may well present economic benefits in the United States and Canada, the scientists stated.

“Quite a few botanical substances customarily occur from China, India and the Mediterranean, but the sugar maple and the pink maple only develop in eastern North America,” Seeram mentioned.

Woodlot entrepreneurs who at this time only harvest sap from the maple trees could use the leaves as an further resource of revenue. The procedure would be sustainable mainly because the leaves could be collected during normal pruning or when they tumble from the trees in autumn, Seeram claimed.

The team’s research is continuing, and it can be also formulating the conclusions into a patent-pending item.

The research conclusions are scheduled for presentation Monday at the once-a-year meeting of the ACS, in Boston. Analysis introduced at meetings ought to be thought of preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.