Bacterial cellulose based facial mask with antioxidant property and high moisturizing capacity

Bacterial cellulose (BC) produced by certain bacteria has the potential to be used in many different areas. Despite its advantageous properties compared to plant cellulose, such as high purity, mechanical strength, nanofiber mesh structure, and high-water holding capacity, its production through a biotechnological process prevents it from competing with plant counterparts in terms of cost-effectiveness. Therefore, studies have focused on the development of culture media with cost-effective BC production methods and the production of high value-added products from BC. In this study, it was aimed to develop a taurine-loaded moisturizing facial mask with antioxidant properties based on BC’s high-water retention and chemical retention capacity. BC facial mask samples were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Liquid Chromatography–Mass spectrometry (LC–MS), microbial and mechanical stability tests, as well as cytotoxicity tests. According to our results, produced facial mask samples did not show any cytotoxic effect on human keratinocyte (HS2) or mouse fibroblast (L-929) cell lines; it has high thermal stability, which makes it suitable for different sterilization techniques including sterilization by heat treatment. Taurine release (over 2 µg/mL in 5 min) and microbial stability tests (no bacterial growth observed) of packaged products kept at 40 and 25 °C for 6 months have shown that the product preserves its characteristics for a long time. In conclusion “bacterial cellulose-based facial masks" are suitable for use as a facial mask, and they can be used for moisturizing and antioxidant properties by means of taurine.