Contributions of Natural Ingredients From the Mesoamerican Biodiversity for the Phytocosmetic Industry Armando Cáceres 1,2* , Sully M. Cruz 1 1 Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacia, Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala 2 Laboratorios de Productos Naturales Farmaya, Guatemala Introduction Mesoamerica is a cultural and historical region were sev- eral important civilizations developed, such as Toltec, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec. Guatemala is a diverse coun- try, pluricultural and multilingual, with a profoundly syn- cretic culture as a heritage of Maya and Spanish cultures. It is a region of high diversity, which complement the bio- logical richness with a profound value for this local biodi- versity by its inhabitants with an integral vision, including diverse applications such as flavors, aromas, spices and condiments, dyes and colorants; food (grains, oilseeds, fruits, herbs), and medicinal plants, herbals and cosmetics. This minireview paper deals with the historical usage of plants for hair and skin care, and the recent investigations on antioxidant, solar protection and tyrosinase inhibition potential for skin clearing of native species from the Me- soamerican biodiversity. Biodiversity and Tradition as a Source of Natural Resources The several indigenous groups established in Mesoamer- ica over time, demonstrated a good knowledge of its sur- rounding and a profound respect for its uses within an integral vision. Ethnobotanical surveys demonstrated abundant information on the use of flavors, aromas, spe- cies and condiments; dyes and colorants; food (grains, oil- seeds, fruits, herbs); medicine and cosmetics, as well as other vegetal an animal resources for everyday life. Based on the review by Batres and Batres from 2011 about the plants used by the Mayas for hair and skin care, at least dozen of species were detected (Table 1). 1 Some of them are still in use by the local populations, but others are less used or find seldom in the wild. Plants With Antioxidant Activity Oxidation occurs in all biological processes, characterized by electron loose, oxygen utilization and hydrogen ces- sion. All oxidations are accompanied by a reduction (re- dox) process. A free radical is an unstable chemical specie with one or more unpaired electron in its external orbit. As oxidants, free radicals react rapidly with any biolog- ic molecule free or coupled to cellular structures, such as glycosides, phospholipids, amino acids, nucleotides and lipoproteins. Free radicals might interact with membrane functions, enzyme production, cellular respiration and genic induction, providing stress and ageing. Vast preclin- ical studies as well as several clinical approaches has been conducted for the safe utilization of vegetal antioxidants. 2,3 Abstract Mesoamerica is a region of high diversity, which complement the biological richness with a profound value for this local biodiversity by its inhabitants, including diverse applications such as flavors, aromas, spices and condiments, dyes and colorants; food (grains, oilseeds, fruits, herbs), and medicinal plants, herbals and cosmetics. This minireview paper deals with the historical usage of plants for hair and skin care, and the recent investigations conducted in Guatemala on antioxidant activity, colorant evaluation, solar protection and tyrosinase inhibition potential for skin clearing of native species from the Mesoamerican biodiversity. Several native species from the Mesoamerican biodiversity are potentially useful for application in the phytocosmetic industry. Based on recent studies in Guatemala the following species are suggest for further assessment. For antioxidant activity and colorant properties, Litsea guatemalensis, Piper jacquemontianum, Rhizophora mangle, Smilax domingensis and Tagetes lucida, for solar protection activity Phlebodium pseudoaureum, and, for antityrosinase activity Piper variabile. It is suggested a joint effort from the academic and industrial sectors for a multinational cooperation in order to develop new phytocosmetic materials and products within an innovative and sustainable approach. Keywords: Smilax domingensis, Tyrosinase inhibition, Solar protection, Antioxidants Correspondence to Armando Cáceres Email: acaceres@farmaya.net Received 13 April 2015 Accepted 25 May 2015 ePublished 26 May 2015 Minireview doi 10.15171/ijpni.2015.02 Please cite this paper as: Cáceres A, Cruz SM. Contributions of natural ingredients from the Mesoamerican biodiversity for the phytocosmetic industry. International Journal of Phytocosmetics and Natural Ingredients. 2015;2:2. doi:10.15171/ ijpni.2015.02 International Journal of Phytocosmetics and Natural Ingredients 2015;2:2