Research Article
Emerging Herbal Cosmetic Production in Sri Lanka: Identifying
Possible Interventions for the Development of the Herbal
Cosmetic Industry
DehelGamageNadeeshaniDilharaGamage,
1
RathnayakaMudiyanselageDharmadasa ,
2
Don Chandana Abeysinghe,
1
Rathnayaka Gamlathge Saman Wijesekara,
3
Gamika A. Prathapasinghe,
3
andTakaoSomeya
4
1
FacultyofAgricultureandPlantationManagement,WayambaUniversityofSriLanka,Makandura,Gonawila60170,SriLanka
2
Industrial Technology Institute, 363, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka
3
Faculty of Livestock, Fisheries and Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Makandura, Gonawila 60170, Sri Lanka
4
ALBION Co., Ltd., Ginza 1-7-10, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Correspondence should be addressed to Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Dharmadasa; dharmadasarm@gmail.com
Received 27 November 2020; Accepted 27 February 2021; Published 15 March 2021
Academic Editor: Margaret A. Niznikiewicz
Copyright©2021DehelGamageNadeeshaniDilharaGamageetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
Although the herbal cosmetic industry has exponentially increased globally, manufacturing of herbal cosmetic products in Sri
Lanka is still very limited. erefore, objectives of the study were to recognize plants used in commercialized herbal cosmetic
productsandmajorconstraintsfacedbyherbalcosmeticmanufacturersandtoidentifypossibleinterventionsforthedevelopment
ofherbalcosmeticindustryofSriLanka.Informationwasgatheredviaasemistructuredquestionnairebypersonalinterviewswith
11large-scalemultipleherbalcosmeticproductsmanufacturers.Collecteddatawereanalyzedviafrequencyindexforusageand
descriptivestatistics.Atotalof115plantspeciesbelongingto56familieswereidentified.Extensiveusageof Aloevera (L.)Burm.f.,
Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.)Colebr.,and Santalum album L. (90.91%)wasreportedamongherbalcosmeticmanufacturers.
e highest number of plants or plant materials was used for manufacturing skin care products (54.78%) followed by hair care
(19.13%)andoralcare(6.96%).emajorityofplantswerereportedfromtheplantfamilyFabaceae(16species).Leaves(20.87%)
were the widely used plant part, whereas 10 plant species were used as whole plants. Inadequacy of 7 plants/plant materials and
importation of 8 plant materials for the production were also recognized. As major constraints faced by herbal cosmetic
manufacturers, inadequate availability and poor quality of raw materials were emphasized. In conclusion, establishing proper
cultivation system, implementing strategies for quality control of raw materials, and conducting ethnobotany, ethno-
pharmacological surveys to identify cosmetic potential of medicinal plants and partnerships with universities to transfer
technology for product development to industries are possible interventions for the development of herbal cosmetic industry of
Sri Lanka.
1.Introduction
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island with an
areaofapproximately65,610km
2
.Despiteitsrelativelysmall
size,SriLankapossessesahighlevelofbiodiversityduetoits
variedclimateandtopographicalconditions[1].Plantshave
beenusedfortreatingillnessesoverathousandyearsbyfour
systems of traditional medicine in Sri Lanka called
Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Deshiya chikitsa [2]. As a
biologically diverse country in Asia, Sri Lanka currently
possesses 29.7% of forest cover [3], 4143 plant species dis-
tributedwithin214families,and1522genera.Ofthese,1025
plant species are endemic to the country [4]. Among the
nativefloraofSriLanka,morethan1,400plantsareusedin
indigenous medicine [5]. Many formulae for medicinal
preparations of Sri Lankan traditional system of medicine
Hindawi
Scientifica
Volume 2021, Article ID 6662404, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6662404