Latin American fruits with cosmetic potential: a view from bioprospecting
Keywords:
Photoprotection, Latin American biodiversity, natural cosmetics, bioprospectingAbstract
Latin America, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, is home to fruits containing metabolites of interest for skincare, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, and vitamins. These compounds provide antioxidant properties and complementary photoprotective effects against oxidative stress. However, transforming a fruit into a cosmetic ingredient requires a bioprospecting pathway that integrates species selection, literature review, experimental validation, sustainability, regulatory considerations, scalability, and collaboration with communities and productive stakeholders. This article presents a science communication perspective on Latin American fruits with cosmetic potential and proposes a general pathway to guide their study through responsible bioprospecting.
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