Skin aging and honey retaining biocompatible supporting formulation: a novel approach for an old natural resource

Skin modifications as a consequence of aging is of great relevance for skin medicine and a particular focus is set on natural compounds. Honey is a virtually inexhaustible natural resource to which men, although they have not domesticated bees over the centuries, can freely access. Honey has been renowned since ancient times for skin care, dermatologic, and wound-healing properties. Its physicochemical properties make it perfect for this purpose, however, nevertheless a large literature on its effectiveness, it cannot be used as such as a skin dressing. Moreover, for clinical purposes only manuka honey is considered, despite its high cost. Our project aims to further characterize the great potential of the honey product in the field of health and skin care, and in particular aims to enhance honeys other than manuka honey, demonstrating how local honeys and honeys of different botanical origin can be comparable, emphasizing the importance of biodiversity. The project will be articulated in order to characterize different honeys than manuka, in particular in the ability to modify the expression of AQP3 and the deposition of type I collagen, and in relation to anti-aging properties. Another purpose of our project is to create a material that can take on different consistencies to make the application of honey easier in different situations and for different purposes, while keeping the chemical-physical characteristics of the honey completely unchanged so as not to modify its effectiveness. The aims of the project focused on these objectives could help improve the valorization of honey, thus obtaining positive effects both on well-being and on the local rural economy.