Foods with Functional Claims

Ceramide is a key component of the skin barrier function that protects skin from dryness. PHYTOCERA a rice-derived ceramide ingredient, and products containing it have been approved as a “Food with Functional Claims” for moisturizing. Ceramide is found in a wide variety of foods, but ceramide from rice which is a staple food of the Japanese people, has excellent safety and security. In addition, it has been confirmed that PHYTOCERA increases the amount of ceramide in the skin with oral intake, therefore, it is useful for food ingredient of beauty purposes. Here, the excellent beauty function of PHYTOCERA is introduced.

Safe and secure glucosylceramide from rice

PHYTOCERA

Ceramide is important for the moisturizing and barrier function of the skin

Ceramide has an important influence on skin moisturizing. It is a lipid component that makes the outermost layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum, and plays an important role as a barrier against moisture evaporation from the body and intrusion of foreign bodies from the outside. Conversely, a lack of ceramide weakens the barrier function, changing skin sensitive to external irritants and dry skin.

Dry air ・UV

Mental stress・Aging

Dry skin・Rough skin

Fine wrinkle・Atopic dematitis

In beauty, dry skin is a major enemy, and one of the reasons for this is the deterioration of the skin's barrier function, in other words, ceramide deficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to supply ceramide from the inside and outside to maintain healthy skin. Ceramide is known to decrease with age, and its continuous intake is also important to maintain healthy skin.

Dry air, ultraviolet rays, stress, and aging can cause skin to lose its ability to retain moisture. As a result, dry skin, rough skin, fine wrinkles, and atopic dermatitis. To protect the skin from such internal and external irritants, ceramide supplementation is necessary.

Topics

Rice bran

Rice bran is the outer skin part of rice that is produced when rice is polished. It is rich in ceramide, amino acids, and vitamins. Its positive effects on beauty have been known for centuries, and even today it is used as a natural ingredient in “beauty treatments,” such as adding it to baths or washing one's face with a small amount of it.

Cosmetic ingredient　aquaCeramide-RC

aquaCeramide-RC, a glucosylceramide derived from rice, has been shown to promote hyaluronic acid production in cell tests and has been shown to retain moisture when applied to human skin.

Company Profile

ICHIMARU PHARCOS Co,.Ltd

https://www.ichimaru.co.jp/english/

318-1 Asagi, Motosu-shi, Gifu, 501-0475 JAPAN

Business Scope

R&D, production, sales, import and export of cosmetic raw materials, health food raw materials and pharmaceutical raw materials.

Abnormal skin moisture retention

Reference: 24th IFSCC Congress Osaka 2006

Foods containing ceramide include rice, konjac, and milk, but it is difficult to consume sufficient amounts of ceramide from ordinary meals, and it is effective to consume ceramide from supplements. For example, when rice, the staple food of the Japanese, is polished, the rice bran, which originally contains a large amount of ceramide, is removed. Therefore, from a beauty point of view, eating rice continuously is not sufficient to consume a sufficient amount of ceramide.

Insufficient from common diet

PHYTOCERA is a glucosylceramide derived from rice. It is not a recycled but an upcycled material that utilizes the rice bran that is shaved off when rice is milled. PHYTOCERA is the first plant-derived ceramide that has been confirmed to increase the amount of human skin ceramide when taken orally.

The safety is considered important as a food material. PHYTOCERA is made from edible Japanese rice. This proves that it is made in accordance with strict safety standards and can be said to be the highest safety level product. PHYTOCERA uses only rice grown in Japan.

Since 2015, when the” Food with Functional Claims” system started, a number of foods have been launched with rice-derived glucosylceramide as a functional substance.These products can be labeled as “rice-derived glucosylceramide has been reported to have the function of improving the condition of the skin by enhancing the skin's moisture retention (barrier function). And they have also become a pioneering material for functional labeling that appeals to “skin.

Approved as the “Food with Functional Claims”

PHYTOCERA extracted from Japanese rice according to strict quality standards

Research Results in the Beauty Field

Increases ceramide in stratum corneum

Men and women in their 30s to 60s (mean age 50.1 years) with dry skin who gave written consent were subjects to take either PHYTOCERA 12 mg (equiv. 1.2 mg of rice-derived glucosylceramide) or placebo, one capsule per day for four weeks.

The results showed that oral intake of PHYTOCERA increased the amount of ceramide in the skin (stratum corneum).

Increased ceramide content in skin

Moisturizing

Healthy men and women in their 20s to 40s (mean age 31.2 years) who gave written consent were subjects to take either PHYTOCERA 6 mg (equiv. 0.6 mg of glucosylceramide) or placebo, one capsule per day for four weeks.

The results showed that oral intake of PHYTOCERA improved the skin barrier function and increased skin moisture content.

Improved skin barrier function

Increased skin moisture content

Reference: Jpn Pharmacol Ther, 2023, 51, (10), 1551-1557

Improvement of skin roughness

Due to a decrease in ceramide, the skin becomes dry and lacks moisture, and the surface of the skin becomes rough and less smooth with white, wispy areas called scales. Oral intake of PHYTOCERA reduced the amount of skin scales and improved rough skin.

Improvement of skin roughness

PHYTOCERA Characteristics

• ●　 Sphingoglycolipid (glucosylceramide) extracted and refined from 100% Japanese rice.
  

• ●　Water soluble (stable dispersion without emulsification) is achieved through purification and solubilization technology.
  
• ●　Solubilized powdered ceramide has been achieved through processing technology that removes oily impurities and then highly refines and mixes it with dextrin.
  

Structure of ceramide contained in PHYTOCERA

Solubility of PHYTOCERA NW-10

Product Lineup

There are three types of products, which can be used for different purposes.

In addition to use in supplements and drinks, they are also easy to use in general food products such as jellies, since there is little change in taste or odor. There are already many products in which PHYTOCERA has been adopted.

As continues to consumption diversify, the need for products with high value increase year by year, and PHYTOCERA, with safety and functionality, is expected to expand its sales further in the future as a beauty ingredient with evidence.

Product Lineup Good solubility

World's first confirmation of an increase in the amount of ceramide in human skin due to the ingestion of plant ceramides

PHYTOCERA is the first product in the world that has been shown to increase the amount of ceramide in human skin after ingestion of phytoceramides. Ceramide is essential for maintaining the skin barrier function and retaining moisture in the skin, and PHYTOCERA is expected to supplement ceramide in the skin, which decreases with age, and help keep the skin moist. In addition, it is a safe and secure beauty food that is derived from rice and does not have any genetic modification issues or allergy labeling requirements. It has excellent solubility and can be formulated in any dosage form.

So far, we have confirmed improvement of wrinkles, rough skin, and itchy skin in winter dry skin. In the future, we intend to continue our research on the function mechanism of ceramide, which remains unresolved, as well as on new functionalities.

Kenichi Ito, M.D.

Director of Development

ICHIMARU PHARCOS CO.,LTD

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