When discussing cosmetics and drugs with friends. She always believes that naturally extracted products are the best because there are no self excreting substances in plants, and synthetic organic compounds may have structures different from those in naturally extracted ingredients. Although the functions are the same, different structures may cause harm.
And I think artificially synthesized ones are better (including petroleum product extraction) because the ingredients are clear and the effects are basically the same as those of natural products. However, the ingredients of natural extracts are unknown, which may lead to allergies or other unknown dangers.
To convince me, he gave the following examples:
1: Some people are allergic to using shampoo! Using natural substances to wash hair will not result in such a situation!
2: Some people have a strong reaction to synthetic capsaicin, while chili peppers do not.
3: Natural cosmetics in foreign countries are generally much more expensive than artificially synthesized ones, but according to consumer preferences, they tend to be more inclined towards natural ones, which does not conform to the basic laws of the market.
We posted this issue on a certain discussion platform, which sparked a heated discussion. One of the articles by a well-known nutritionist in China attracted me, and I will cite this well-known nutritionist to slowly unravel this question for the readers of this article.
In the case that both natural and compound products are pure products, there is no difference between them.
The nutritionist thinks:Initially, due to the lack of effective synthetic methods, all organic compounds were obtained through natural product extraction. The most famous example of natural product extraction is probably artemisinin, which recently won the Nobel Prize.
However, with the development of industry and advances in synthetic technology, some compounds cannot meet human needs solely through the extraction of natural products. The main reason is that the methods of extracting natural products are often limited by the source of raw materials. Even expanding the source of raw materials through large-scale planting or breeding is very uneconomical. Because in the process of extracting natural products, a large amount of waste is generated, but the purified products are few and far between. For example, in basic organic experiments, if we want to extract theophylline from tea, the yield of theophylline from 1kg of tea is only a few milligrams, and a lot of instruments and solvents are used in the process.
Therefore, chemical synthesis emerged. Due to the fact that chemical synthesis is initially aimed at the target product, its efficiency is greatly improved compared to natural product synthesis. Of course, any compound production process is a comprehensive consideration of cost, safety, and demand. Due to the relatively simple synthesis technology at that time, the synthesis cost of some compounds was still quite high, or higher than the corresponding natural product extraction methods (this inference is based on compounds that can be obtained through both pathways). Therefore, these compounds are still extracted from natural products in current industrial production.
The specific preparation process used for a compound is determined by comprehensive factors. In some cases, as the demand for a certain compound gradually increases, chemists have to abandon the method of separating natural products and instead seek chemical synthesis. For example, the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel was originally extracted from the bark of yew trees, but the isolation yield was only one in ten thousand. With the increasing demand, the stock of paclitaxel trees is constantly shrinking and in urgent need. Therefore, in the 1990s, the chemical synthesis technology of paclitaxel was greatly supported by the national industrial policy and achieved breakthroughs. As of now, the synthesized paclitaxel has occupied most of the market.
The choice between natural product separation and chemical synthesis to obtain a better product is not the key factor in the transition from natural extraction to chemical extraction.
I think the difference between me and my friends is that it is difficult to ensure that the product obtained through natural extraction or synthetic methods is 100% pure. Indeed, regardless of the method used, the solvents, extraction or synthesis reagents used in the production process are highly likely to have residues in the final product. Therefore, chemists constantly seek better preparation methods to ensure that residues in the final product can be removed as much as possible, or in other words, these residues can be removed to a state that complies with pharmacopoeia regulations. This problem also exists with natural extracts,Take alfalfa extract as an example. At present, the best technology can only purify 40% alfalfa saponin, while the rest of the ingredients are often harmless to people, such as alfalfa sugar, alfalfa flavonoids and so on. However, it is certainly possible to purify these components, but this will not only increase the cost, but also lead to the old way of biochemical extraction and increase more solvents, and there should not be solvent residues when this product appears. So many factories basically regard 40% purity alfalfa saponin as a mature market. And wait for new technological innovation.
For us, The right product equals the best product.
As of today, there is no way to obtain the desired substance 100% without leaving any impurities, only the difference in impurity quantity. However, we can rest assured that the amount of harmful impurities in products approved for market is strictly limited, which has little impact on quality. As for the allergy issue raised, it involves multiple factors, and some people's constitution can also cause allergies to natural coriander. I believe that it should not be generalized and attributed to the technology used in producing this product. We should identify the real allergic factors and use products that are suitable for ourselves. Of course, we need to remind you to choose products produced by reputable large manufacturers with stronger capabilities as much as possible, given the available options. Try not to use handmade products, even if they are said to be natural, unless they have a long history, like stone flour.
In addition to the production techniques mentioned above, there is another commonly used way to obtain compounds: engineering strain synthesis. The general process is to regulate the genetic information of the strain to enable it to produce the required compounds. This practice has actually been around for a long time. For example, penicillin was first isolated from the secretions of bacterial strains (but it was not a modified engineered strain, and it seems to be closer to the method of extracting natural products). Of course, the scope of application of this method is very limited, limited to the preparation of a small portion of compounds.
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