Cosmetic enzymology: which enzymes are of interest to practitioners?
Today, there are many procedures and care products that contain various enzymes. At the same time, the problems they solve are also diverse. Let's consider the most common enzymes in cosmetology and their applications.
Enzymes are biologically active substances of protein nature, capable of accelerating chemical reactions many times over, that is, they are biological catalysts.
The famous author of cell theory Theodor Schwann, thanks to whom the first information about the structure of the cell and about cellular metabolism appeared, managed to isolate a substance from gastric juice in 1836, which in a concentrated state could break down and dissolve proteins. Schwann called this substance pepsin. Later, the Swedish naturalist Jacob Berzelius formulated the correct assumption about the mechanism of action of these substances - biocatalysts.
Louis Pasteur was the first to use the term "enzymes" to refer to biocatalysts that cause the fermentation process, which experts call fermentation. Soon, however, the scope of this term narrowed - it began to apply only to enzymes that act inside a living cell. In 1878, the German naturalist, physician, and professor of physiology in Heidelberg, Willy Kuehne, began using the term “enzymes” for biocatalysts that also function outside living cells. The emergence of two names created confusion, as both terms – ferments and enzymes – were used inconsistently. Although it was decided in 1897 that all biocatalysts, without exception, would be designated by the term “enzymes,” both names are still used in the literature.
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