Fruits and vegetables are the most utilized commodities among all horticultural crops. They are consumed raw, minimally processed, as well as processed, due to their nutrients and health-promoting compounds. With the growing population and changing diet habits, the production and processing of horticultural crops, especially fruits and vegetables, have increased very significantly to fulfill the increasing demands.

Significant losses and waste in the fresh and processing industries are becoming a serious nutritional, economical, and environmental problem. For example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that losses and waste in fruits and vegetables are the highest among all types of foods, and may reach up to 60%. The processing operations of fruits and vegetables produce significant wastes of by-products, which constitute about 25% to 30% of a whole commodity group. 

The waste is composed mainly of seed, skin, rind, and pomace, containing good sources of potentially valuable bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids, polyphenols, dietary fibers, vitamins, enzymes, and oils, among others. These phytochemicals can be utilized in different industries including the food industry, for the development of functional or enriched foods, the health industry for medicines and pharmaceuticals, and the textile industry, among others. The use of waste for the production of various crucial bioactive components is an important step toward sustainable development. 

Preventions sit right at the top of the waste management hierarchy, that is, preventing environmental impact before it is generated. The circular economy stands in contrast with the linear ‘use and dispose’ model. In this context, the cosmetics sector can play a central role in catalyzing this bioeconomy, as it’s able to make use of waste and give it a much higher added value or upcycling.

The concept of circular economy to our processes is important but using these resources to manufacture ingredients and transform it into a concept of circular beauty. Finally, Pomerage was born as the result of the intention of collaboration between different points in the value chain. Meanwhile, pomerage is the cosmetic result of recovering by products from apple processing in the local industry. 

Why pomerage use apples? 

The reason is that apples are known around the world to be synonymous with health. However, there is also a real need for them to be upcycled. Spain, the country producing more than half a million tonnes of apples each year, 25-30% of which becomes waste material. 

Some types of waste contain a high concentration of polyphenols, the active molecule with recognised and confirmed skin and anti-aging properties. 

The apple processing required to make cider also produces one main by-product. It is an apple pomace, an agricultural waste product containing a mixture of flesh, skin and seeds. So, there is a chance to reuse it as the raw material on pomerage. 

Pomerage contributes to restoring the healthy appearance of the skin because inflammatory processes have reduced. Markers associated with cellular senescence and through its multiple actions on the different steps of biosynthesis and maturation of collagen.

So after all,  if you want to protect and take care of your skin, you can use some ingredients including Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate Propanediol, Aqua, Pyrus Malus Fruit Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Propanediol, Phenethyl Alcohol, Phenylpropanol, Xanthan Gum, Glutamic acid, tetrasodium salt, Curcuma Longa Root, D&C Green 6, Fragrance