Davao Doctors College

Senior High School Department

_________________________

Avocado (Parsea Americana) Oil

as a Moisturizer
_________________________

A Research Paper Presented to

the Senior High School Department
of the Davao Doctors College, Inc.
General Malvar Steet, Davao City

_________________________

Grade 12 – (Euclid)

Caminero, Casamayor, Ibañez

Jayo, Macario, Ruales

February 11, 2019

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Parsea Americana (Avocado)

The avocado, scientifically known as Parsea Americana, is a fat containing fruit

that is low in sugar that has a smooth and creamy texture was a native from Mexico and

Central America (Bjarnadottir, 2017). Historically, the avocado was brought into the

Philippines in 1890 by the Spaniards through seeds originating from Mexico (Sotto,

n.d.). Furthermore, in 1913, the Bureau of Agriculture, together with the College of

Agriculture of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, began the countrywide

spreading of avocado trees. Now, avocados are found growing all over the nation, most

of which are cultivated in backyards. The peak of the fruiting season of avocado is from

May to September, but folks here in the country and in every region plants avocado in

different months which results in a year-round supply of avocado fruits.

There are two known sorts of avocado that exist in particular: the green-fruited

and the purple-fruited types. The green-fruited type avocado is larger compared to the

purple-fruited type, a creamy golden-green flavorful flesh with a pebbly, thick and easy

to peel skin while the purple-fruited type has silky, watery, and a very mild taste with

smooth and glossy skin (Goddard, 2018).

As stated by the Business Diary Philippines (n.d.), the Philippines abundantly

produce different varieties of avocado being developed locally, however, these

avocados are botanically divided into three races: The Mexican, West Indian, and the

Guatemalan race avocados.

Moisturizer

There is no consensus regarding to the meaning of a moisturizer. As mentioned

by Sethi, Kaur, & Gambhir (2016), the term moisturizer is a neologism coined by the

Madison Avenue marketers in promoting the facile idea that they moisten the skin.

However, moisturizer are defined by experts as topical products designed to improve

and maintain the skin barrier function and to help prevent dry skin. It gives functional

skin benefits, such as making the skin smooth and soft, increasing skin hydration, and

improving skin optical characteristics; however, moisturizers also function as vehicles to

deliver ingredients to the skin (UT Medical Center, 2013).

In an article, it was stated that applying moisturizer can increase the moisture

level of a person’s stratum corneum - the upper layer of the skin, and prevents skin from

drying out (Oz, n.d.). Furthermore, Marmur (n.d.) eloquently stated that once a stratum

corneum became dry, brittle, or cracked, the skin becomes vulnerable from the external

environment and the water from the skin’s dermis evaporates. That is why

dermatologists constantly advice individuals to use moisturizers.

There are different types of moisturizers to choose from according to skin types.

In an article by Best Health (n.d.), they have mentioned several kinds of moisturizers

including humectants, such as glycerin and lactic acid which appeal to water and help

skin preserve moisture. They also include Emollients such as fatty acids and ceramides

that softens and soothes the skin and lastly, the Occlusives also known as the barrier
creams such as petrolatum, dimethicone or lanolin, which departs a film on the surface

of the skin and seal in moisture.

On the investigation of Sivamani et al. (2018) about the moisturizers on

epidermal barrier function recovery after bathing in Atopic Dermatitis, they used

ceramide-containing emollients (CER), humectant (10%glycerin), an occlusant (white

petrolatum), and a 5% extract of aloe vera. The study found out that the hydration

significantly increases in all moisturizers with glycerin observed to have the highest

increase followed by the ceramide-containing emollients.

Additionally, a study from Lunnemann, Ludrikdone, & Bartels in 2018 about the

noninvasive monitoring of plant-based formulations on skin barrier properties in infants

with dry skin and risk of atopic dermatitis, was investigated. The researchers utilized

emollients that contained juice from an ice plant. It resulted to a significant increase on

stratum corneum hydration (SHC) in all body regions that were assessed in weeks and

comes up with a conclusion that daily application of emollients causes increase SCH

levels and a stable course of trans epidermal water loss, pH, and sebum.

Compositions of Avocado and its Skin Benefits

The avocado contains less sugar and more fibers. It is also composed mostly of

fat that can be extracted to produce natural oil. As mentioned by Mateljan (2018), the

avocado has high fat content of between 71 to 88% of its total calories which is about

20 times higher than the average amount of fat found on other fruits. He also mentioned

that a typical avocado has 30 grams of fat, however, 20 percent of this fat are health-

promoting monounsaturated fat especially oleic acid.

 In 2016, Palsdottir pointed that the oil from avocados contains appreciable

quantities of vitamins A, D, and E. These vitamins along with protein, lecithin, essential

fatty acids, and other nutrients in the avocado oil can support healing and has soothing

effects as well as nourishing and moisturizing the skin (Barhum, 2018). In addition, as

mentioned by Scaccia (2017), the beta carotene, protein, lecithin, fatty acids, and

vitamins A, D, and E found in avocado oil can moisturize and protect the skin from the

damage caused by UV rays and can also increase collagen metabolism. She also

added that the oil from an avocado contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents

which helps the skin to stay smooth, strong, and elastic.

From the journal of Lin, Zhong, & Santiago (2017), they discussed that there are

biological influences on topical skin applications of some plant oils including oils from

avocado and olives that can repair skin barrier due to its antioxidant and anti-

inflammatory agents. Moreover, in the study from Evidence Based Complement

Alternative Medicine (2013), they found out that the oil form avocado is capable of

promoting the increase of collagen synthesis and the decreased numbers of

inflammatory cells during the wound-healing process and can be considered a new

option for treating skin wounds due to its linoleic acid, oleic acid, and other

monounsaturated fatty acids.

Efficacy of Oil as a Moisturizer

Moisturizing your skin makes your skin softer, by increasing the skins H20

content. This may be done by using natural or artificial oils. Moisturizer are among the

most used products for the skin and it contains the addition of vitamins (A, B, C, D and

E). Among these moisturizers are the natural oils which is utilized in topical therapy and
is typically used as an accessible and inexpensive option for skin care. As stated by

Wallace (n.d.), using natural oil as a moisturizer is great to infuse more minerals into the

skin. Furthermore, she also added that the skin readily accepts the fat-soluble nutrients

from anything they are steeped thus, infusing natural oils in a skin care routine can

moisturize and replenish vital nourishment.

According to a published article of Charlotte, (2019), the essential oils are

formulated to deeply penetrate into the skin and address or reverse the signs of ageing

and damage of the skin on a cellular level (Charlotte, 2019). The natural oils of

Avocado can penetrate deep into the skin which helps soften and revitalize your skin

from being dry (Cahn, 2015). Also, the Parsea Americana is also rich in fatty acids and

phytosterols which minimizes the signs of aging by slowing down the production of

collagen (Joy, n.d.). Moisturizers main function is to increase the moisture level of the

skin, preventing the skin from drying out. The oil of the avocado is capable of being a

moisturizer to provide nourishment for the skin.

In 2014, Tichota, Silva, & Amaral evaluated the use of argan oil as a

nanostructured lipid carrier to improve skin hydration. In the investigation, they have

found out that the preparation of NLC systems using argan oil as the liquid lipid was

promising strategy, since an interacting effect on the skin hydration was attained. Also,

a study from Estanqueiro et al. (2014) about the moisturizing efficacy of nanolipidgel

was observed. The observation resulted to a promising systems of nanolipidgel

formulations with the addition of humectants for its instrumental attribution and

moisturizing performance.
 REFERENCES

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