Chitosan has previously been described for its wound healing and delivery properties, among many others. Now, work published in the Journal of the Korean Society of Industrial Academia and Technology demonstrates its synergistic effects with other cosmetic ingredients.
See archived: Skin-lifting Chitosan
Three types of chitosan with different molecular weights and five representative cosmetic ingredients were used for the study; including 1,2-hexanediol, 1,3-butylene glycol, EDTA-2Na, ethanol and glycerol. Disc diffusion and broth microdilution assays determined antibacterial activity and antioxidant activity was measured by the DPPH radical scavenging assay.
Low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) showed potent antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Also, EDTA-2Na and ethanol showed "remarkable" synergistic antibacterial effects with chitosan, the authors wrote.
