What exactly is the controversial "morning glory extract"?
Morning glory, an annual twirling herb, is renowned for its trumpet-shaped corolla and distinctive leaf shape. Compared with morning glories, its leaves are round heart-shaped or broad ovate-shaped heart-shaped, which is the most obvious difference between the two. However, it is precisely this ingredient widely used in cosmetics that has recently drawn much attention due to controversy.
By comparing the leaf shapes of the round-leaf morning glory with those of the morning glory, we can clearly see the differences between the two. The round-leaf morning glory, a plant listed as an "invasive alien plant" in the "List of Invasive and Naturalized Alien Plants in China (2023)", can be found all over the country. Although wild morning glories pose a certain threat to native crops, through reasonable utilization, they have gradually become popular flowers in vertical landscaping in gardens and home cultivation. Meanwhile, the round-leaf morning glory also has certain traditional Chinese medicine value. Its seeds, "morning glory seeds", can be used to treat constipation and other diseases, and have the effects of "purging water and promoting defecation, eliminating phlegm and washing away thirst, killing parasites and attacking accumulation, purging and promoting diuresis, and reducing swelling". This effect is also recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica".
A copy of "Compendium of Materia Medica". Modern scientific research has found that the round-leaf morning glory is rich in chemical components, such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, anhydrone and α -resin alcohol, etc. According to the data, the anthocyanins and polyphenol oxidase in it have the effect of slowing down the oxidation rate of the skin, while flavonoids can reduce the activity of tyrosinase, thereby helping to delay skin pigmentation.
However, it is worth noting that the round-leaf morning glory also shows a certain degree of toxicity, a characteristic that makes it potentially valuable in pest control. Experiments have proved that substances extracted from different parts of the round-leaf morning glory with organic solvents all show killing power against pests such as the diamondback moth, among which the traditional medicinal part - the morning glory seed - has the most significant insecticidal effect.
