Hypericum Perforatum Oil

What Is It?

Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract in an extract of the flowers, leaves and stems of Hypericum perforatum, commonly called St. John’s Wort. Hypericum Perforatum Oil is a red-brown oil that is obtained from St. John’s Wort. In cosmetics and personal care products, Hypericum Perforatum Extract and Hypericum Perforatum Oil are used in the formulation of a variety of product types, including skin care products, shampoos, and bath products.

Why Is It Used?

Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract and Oil enhance the appearance of dry or damaged skin by reducing flaking and restoring suppleness.

Scientific Facts

Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract is an extract of the flowers, leaves and stemst of Hypericum perforatum, commonly called St. John’s Wort. Hypericum Perforatum Oil is the fixed oil from H. perforatum. In the United States, St. John’s Wort is sold as a dietary supplement.

Safety Information

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed the safety of Hypericum perforatum and approved its use as a natural flavoring substance in alcoholic beverages in the hypericin-free alcohol distillate form only. The safety of Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract and Oil has been assessed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel evaluated the scientific data and concluded that additional data were needed to determine whether or not Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract and Hypericum Perforatum Oil were safe for use in cosmetics and personal care products.

CIR Safety Review: Acute toxicity studies indicate that the extract was relatively nontoxic. Dietary exposure to H. perforatum flowers for 2 weeks resulted in no significant signs of toxicity, including erythema, edema of the portion of the body exposed to light, alopecia, and changes in blood chemistry. In a chronic study, dietary exposure to H. perforatum at high doses resulted in less weight gain than controls.

Mixtures containing the extract and the oil were not irritants or sensitizers. A component of the plant, hypericin is a photosensitizer. In clinical tests, a single oral administration of Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract resulted in hypericin appearing in the blood. With long-term dosing, a steady-state level in blood was reached after 14 days. The polyphenol fraction of H. perforatum had immunostimulating activity, whereas the lipophilic portion had immunosuppressing properties. Mixtures of the extract and the oil produced minimal or no ocular irritation in eyes. Mutagenic activity in bacteria was attributed to flavonols in one study and to quercitin in another, but other genotoxicity assays were negative.

No carcinogenicity or reproductive and developmental toxicity data were available. A mixture of the extract and the oil was not irritating in clinical studies. Adverse reactions to oral Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract in the clinical treatment of depression include skin reddening and itching, dizziness, constipation, fatigue, anxiety and tiredness.

Absent any basis for concluding that data on one member of a botanical ingredient group can be extrapolated to another in a group, or to the same ingredient extracted differently, these data were not considered sufficient to assess the safety of these ingredients.

The CIR Expert Panel requested the following additional information: 1) concentration of use; 2) photosensitzation and photoxicity data using visible light; 3) gross pathology and histopathology in skin and other major organ systems associated with repeated dermal exposure; 4) dermal reproductive and developmental toxicity data; 5) skin irritation and sensitization data in humans on Hypericum Perforatum Oil; and 6) ocular irritation data, if available.

Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Hypericum perforatum L. leaves, flowers, and caulis http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr…

Hypericum Perforatum Extract and Oil may be used in cosmetics and personal care products marketed in Europe according to the general provisions of the Cosmetics Regulation of the European Union.

Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_p…

More Scientific Information

These two ingredients are derived from Hypericum perforatum. Reported components of this plant hypericin, naphthodianthrones, flavonoids, terpene and sesquiterpene oils, phenylpropanes, biflavones, tannins, xanthones , phloroglucinols, and essential oils. Techniques for preparing Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract include crushing in stabilized olive oil, gentle maceration over a period of weeks, followed by dehydration and filtration. In cosmetics and personal care products, Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract and Oil function as skin conditioning agents – miscellaneous.

Resources

Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration

Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm

Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/defaul…

Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm

Search the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm

EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/

Medline Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-stjohnswort….