What is hyaluronic acid? What is the function?

1. Structure of hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is a type of polysaccharide substance, classified in more detail, belonging to the class of mucopolysaccharides. It is a polymer composed of repeated arrangement of D-glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine groups. The more repeating groups there are, the greater the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid. So there are hyaluronic acids on the market ranging from 50000 Daltons to 2 million Daltons, and their biggest difference is the size of their molecular weight.
2. Hyaluronic acid in the human body
Hyaluronic acid plays a crucial role in the human body and is widely present in the extracellular matrix. In addition, it also exists in many organs and tissues, playing a role in water retention and lubrication, such as the vitreous body, joint synovial fluid, and skin. It can be seen that the concentration of hyaluronic acid in joint synovial fluid is as high as 3600mg/L, which is equivalent to 0.36%, higher than many commercially available hyaluronic acid moisturizing essence. In addition, the concentration in the vitreous and skin can reach several hundred milligrams per liter.
Because hyaluronic acid is so important to the human body, it is widely used in various fields of medicine. However, Dr. Pang does not understand medicine. Next, we will discuss the effect of hyaluronic acid in skincare.
Market heat
Due to its excellent moisturizing effect, hyaluronic acid is widely used in various cosmetic products as production capacity expands and prices decrease. In 2019, Tmall summarized the main claimed ingredients in cosmetics, and the results showed that hyaluronic acid (hyaluronic acid) ranked first. 11.2% of cosmetics on the market added hyaluronic acid (hyaluronic acid), far higher than the lower ranked ingredients. For example, the proportion of high fire niacinamide is only 4.1%, while collagen is only 1.8%. This shows the popularity of hyaluronic acid in beauty products.
Production process:
The content of hyaluronic acid in the human umbilical cord is as high as 4000mg/L, so hyaluronic acid was originally extracted from the human umbilical cord. Due to limited raw material sources and extremely low production, the price is extremely high, and ordinary people cannot afford to use hyaluronic acid. Although the process was improved and extracted from chicken crowns later, the yield was still very low.
The widespread use of hyaluronic acid is thanks to the popularization of microbial fermentation methods. Some naturally occurring bacteria can consume polysaccharides or fats and secrete hyaluronic acid. Especially for certain streptococci, their cell walls contain high concentrations of hyaluronic acid. By screening natural strains and inducing mutations, bacteria with higher hyaluronic acid production can be obtained. Then analyze and study the growth and metabolism process of bacteria, regulate their metabolism, and achieve the goal of feeding bacteria the least amount of food and producing the most hyaluronic acid.
In testing, it can be found that hyaluronic acid has a very magical ability. It has a particularly strong moisture absorption ability at low humidity, but its moisture absorption ability is not as good as some moisturizers at high humidity. This indicates that hyaluronic acid has a unique intelligent moisturizing ability. When dry and lacking in water, it can lock in moisture, while in humid conditions, it will not adsorb too much water to cause dampness.