Natural Skin Brightening Patent
Natural Skin Brightening Patent
U.S. Patent No. 11,931,451 B2 · Issued March 19, 2024
Botanic Innovations is a co-owner of the U.S. patent titled “Skin Lightening Compounds From Fruit Seed Extracts.”
The patent covers a method for isolating naturally occurring compounds — ellagic acid and ellagitannins — from cold-pressed fruit seed material, and formulating them into topical products designed to support a brighter, more even-looking complexion.
In the laboratory research behind the patent, these compounds were shown to inhibit tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in the formation of melanin. Ingredients that reduce tyrosinase activity in testing have long been of interest in cosmetic science for supporting a more even-looking tone and reducing the visible appearance of dark spots and dullness. Our patented fruit seed extracts offer a plant-derived way to explore that approach — a botanical option for formulators at a time when regulators have restricted synthetic agents such as hydroquinone, which can no longer be legally marketed in over-the-counter skin products in the U.S.
Powered by the seed meal — nothing wasted
What makes this discovery uniquely ours is where the compounds come from: the nutrient-dense seed material left behind after our Cold Press Process. This seed meal is remarkably rich in phytochemicals — cold-pressed red raspberry seed material, for example, can contain ellagic acid at concentrations many times higher than the raspberry fruit itself — turning a byproduct of oil pressing into a high-value cosmetic ingredient.
Validated in laboratory testing
In in-vitro (laboratory) tyrosinase assays described in the patent, several of our fruit seed extracts inhibited the enzyme as effectively as — and in some cases more effectively than — well-known reference inhibitors, including kojic acid, arbutin, and hydroquinone. Red raspberry and black raspberry seed extracts were among the strongest performers at comparable concentrations. The extracts were fully characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry to confirm their active compounds. (These are laboratory findings on isolated extracts, not measurements of finished-product performance on skin.)
Built for the formulations you make
The patent describes ready-to-formulate applications across categories you already serve — moisturizing sprays, anhydrous and aqueous serums, and oil-in-water emulsions — making these extracts a natural fit for brightening serums, creams, lotions, and other topical personal care and cosmetic products.
Developed through collaboration
This patent reflects the research-driven partnerships at the heart of what we do. It is co-owned with the WiSys Technology Foundation and was developed in collaboration with a chemist at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh — one of the academic institutions we work with to identify and validate the benefits hidden within seeds.