The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-ageing
and anti-oxidant properties of 23 plant extracts (Table 1)
many of which are commonly found ingredients in cosmetic
formulations (e.g. rose, lavender and witch hazel)
[19-21]. Many intact extracts are used, along with tinctures
or lyophilized powders from aqueous extractions,
and thus in this study whole extracts as opposed to isolated
fractions were investigated. The plants chosen are
representative of 15 plant families in order to explore the
diversity of polyphenolic compounds which may exhibit
activity in the assays employed. The in vitro assays were
chosen to reflect the types of damage caused by radical
scavenging in skin-ageing and to find activity by plant
extracts which might counteract this damage. Hence, the
anti-elastase and anti-collagenase activities of the extracts
are reported along with the anti-oxidant efficacies
observed in the Trolox equivalent anti-oxidant capacity
(TEAC) and SOD assays. The total phenolic content of
each extract was also determined.