Nashik Vintners would be interested to learn that researchers in New Zealand have found that the left-over Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grape seeds after fermentation make an excellent sunscreen lotion to protect the skin from sun's harmful UV rays, thus raising hope for some extra income when some Indian herbal and natural cosmetic companies decide to exploit these findings, writes Subhash Arora.

Marlborough produces the bulk of the country's sauvignon grapes; once the wine's been made, there's an abundance of grape seeds left over. New scientific findings have got people excited. "This is a really, really exciting result because this is the first time, this has a protective effect against UV right down at the very protein level," reportedly says Dr Jolan Dyer.

The state-owned, independent research and development NZ company, AgResearch is working with a cosmetics company which already uses Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grapes for various health products.

Skin care companies are excited by the results that the grapes could be useful as a sun block too."It's really exciting that they are coming up with extracts that can compete with anything else internationally," says Elizabeth Barbalich, according to the report. "I think it is amazing that from such a simple product like grapes you can get such a sophisticated ingredient."

AgResearch is also working and hoping to find other protection elements in the grape seed. "What we would like to do now is to learn how the extract protects the lipids in your skin, which affect a lot of the properties of your skin, such as moisture retention, and also aging of your skin," says Dr Dyer.

However, use of grape-seeds and skins is not a new phenomenon. Several cosmetic companies have been using grape seed oil in the formulation for quite a few years. Lydia Mondavi, wife of Rob Mondavi and grand daughter-in-law of the late Robert Mondavi had introduced the line of ‘29’ cosmetics a few years ago, using grape seeds as the base. She says, ‘Grape seeds have been researched for their benefits

for over 23 years and researchers have found that grape seed extract is 50 times more powerful than Vitamin E and over 20 times more powerful than Vitamin D."

 Trento Italy -based Effegilab in collaboration with the Consortium of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano introduced the cosmetic collection of the left over essence of red grapes of Montepulciano (Sangiovese), deriving the benefits of the established evidence of anti –oxidant propertied pf the Polyphenols in the grape and their ability to inhibit the activity of the free radicals. The products that included moisturing cream and wash gel have proven to be highly effective, providing the producers of this region a new outlet.

Scientists are hopeful that what was once a waste product will now become the basis of an exciting new skincare product. Imagine the Indian cosmetic companies like Shahnaz Husain and Biotique offering natural, herbal beauty cosmetics using the grape seeds and skins from Maharashtra!

Subhash Arora