Estratégias para o aproveitamento de ligninas de Eucalyptus globulus e de brácteas de Araucaria augustifolia para produção de insumos cosméticos para tratamento de hipercromias cutâneas

Abstract

There is a wide variety of cosmetics for hyperpigmentation treatments available on the market, however many are not as effective, causing adverse effects and harming the environment. For this reason, it is important to study new approaches to the development of cosmetic assets that can overcome the unwanted effects of chemicals commonly used in these products. Currently, researches show great interest in the investigation of ligninolytic enzymes and their properties in several areas of biotechnological application. Some of these enzymes are able to degrade and discolor different sources of melanin, a pigment that is strongly present in the skin with hyperpigmentation. In this study, five species of basidiomycetes were evaluated for the production of ligninolytic enzymes, especially laccases, in submerged cultures in flasks. The strains that showed greater laccases activities, they were selected to scale the production of enzymes in the bioreactor. The analysis of melanin degradation and decoloration by ligninolytic enzymes were performed in a quantitative way, by fluorescence and qualitative spectroscopy, and by reducing the color in agar plates and in cosmetics. Furthermore, Araucaria angustifolia and Eucalyptus globulus agro-industrial residues were used as substrates to induce an increase in the activity of ligninolytic enzymes, for elevated lignin content and, consequently, the presence of phenolic compounds. Thus, the enzymatic extract, rich in laccases, produced by Marasmiellus palmivorus VE111 degraded approximately 33% of the melanin, while the enzymatic extract of Pycnoporus sanguineus PR_32 degraded 13% of the melanin content, after eight hours of reaction, using vanillin as mediator. Furthermore, the analysis of HSQC spectra showed the appearance of new signals from aliphatic and oxygenated aliphatic regions after enzymatic treatment with laccase, suggesting a possible cleavage of the chemical structure of melanin. The present work showed promising results for the development of supplies for ecologically sustainable bleaching cosmetics [resumo fornecido pelo autor].