The industry is relying more and more on natural substances and, with this, satisfying consumer demand for more biobased and sustainably produced products. Plant-based products and ingredients are particularly in demand in the cosmetics industry. Through a new strategic partnership with the French company Plant Advanced Technologies (PAT), the Swiss chemical group Clariant intends to expand its involvement in this business field.

Obtaining substances for cosmetics from plant roots

As the company announced at the end of November, the alliance includes the joint development of certain plant ingredients and their exclusive distribution by Clariant. The partnership will highlight the strengths of both partners: PAT's technologies for researching and producing valuable substances from plant roots are regarded as sustainable. With Clariant's marketing and sales expertise, the new premium products are to be successfully launched on the market.

The collaboration mainly focuses on the personal care business. "We will provide premium active ingredients to the cosmetic market through a monitored and controlled process that explores the most difficult-to-access and richest parts of plants: the roots," says Christian Vang, Global Head of Business Unit Industrial & Consumer Care business unit.

Plants exude ingredients

The technology of Plant Milking is based on the cultivation of plants under aeroponic conditions. Aeroponics is a specific form of hydroponics in which the nutrient solution for the roots is atomized in air by means of high-pressure nozzles or sprinklers and distributed exclusively in the root area. The advantage: The roots grow stronger than the above-ground, green parts of the plant. PAT obtains the constituents of the roots through a physiological process: the plant excretes various compounds such as simple sugars, amino acids, fatty acids or organic and inorganic acids via the root via so-called exudation.

Thanks to plant milking technology, several harvests per year are possible. The plants cultivated according to the aeroponics method are not destroyed, either: the roots can grow back virtually indefinitely. PAT and Clariant have not yet announced which plants will be used and, above all, which compounds will be of interest to the cosmetics industry.

The German chemical company BASF has already been cooperating with the French company PAT for several years - among other things in the development of new fungicides.

PAT share price rises

Clariant will hold around 10% of the shares in the French company founded in 2005 as part of a capital increase. The share price of PAT (EPA:ALPAT) on Alternext Paris shows that this news is giving rise to optimism: in the last week of November, the share price rose by around 30% to 18.60 euros.

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