MY HERBARIUM The fabulous powers of wheat

It is all around us, it has been with us since our childhood, it is in our products and on our plates. Let us tell you about the plants and our exceptional natural ingredients.

A blond beauty like no other, the beautiful golden yellow of wheat fields in summer. We know about the vitamin-rich food, and the undeniable virtues of its germ. We now know that, due to the fermentation of bacteria present in wheat grains, we can reconstitute an exceptional molecule: hyaluronic acid, which has a tremendous moisturising action. Each molecule can hold more than 1000 times its weight in water, like a sponge. Let's take a closer look at this substance with powerful properties, a natural source of youth and fascination. My grandmother used to call it the fountain of youth. Mind you, it wasn't all about grains of wheat...

For a long time, this ingredient was obtained from the crest of a rooster. After grinding, chemical treatment and purification, hyaluronic acid was extracted. It is now possible to produce a plant-based alternative by recovering it through a bio-fermentation process.

But let's go back in time. How was it discovered? Present since the beginning of time in all living tissues, animal and vegetable, and in our bodies, its chemical structure was identified by Karl Meyer and John Palmer in 1934, through a process of isolation, in the vitreous humour of a bull's eye. They then realised that hyaluronic acid molecules exist naturally in our bodies, particularly in cartilage, the eyes and especially the skin. There are two forms of hyaluronic acid: high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which remains on the surface of the skin, in the epidermis, where it retains water and prevents the skin from drying out, and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which penetrates into the dermis, the deep layer of the skin, where it strengthens the skin tone.

Hyaluronic acid is constantly renewed, but with age, production slows down: at the age of 50, our epidermis contains only half of our initial capital, which leads to skin sagging and wrinkles. But the good news is that today we know how to produce it using a biosynthesis process through fermentation, using wheat grains from our French fields and lactic bacteria, so that it can then be integrated into targeted skin care products. Cock-a-doodle-doo!