What is it?
An extract of apple cells grown in a laboratory culture rather than picked from a tree. Pieces of apple tissue are coaxed into forming a mass of unspecialized cells, called a callus, which is then multiplied in a nutrient broth and processed into an extract. Marketers often call these “apple stem cells.” The ingredient is used in small amounts, mostly in leave-on skin care, as a skin-conditioning agent.
Key information
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2016 that apple fruit cell culture extract is safe as used when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing.
- It was reported in 29 cosmetic products, at 0.00001 to 1 percent.
- Products advertised as containing plant stem cells almost always contain extracts of dead cells, not living stem cells.
- A 2017 review found that claimed benefits come from antioxidants and other compounds in the extract, and that research on plant stem cells in skin care is still in its infancy.
More information
Plant cell culture starts with a piece of plant tissue placed on a nutrient gel, where it forms a callus of dedifferentiated cells. For a food version of apple cell culture assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2023, cells from a Swiss apple variety were grown for three to four weeks in bioreactors of up to 50 liters in a broth of sucrose, vitamins, minerals and two synthetic plant hormones, then homogenized, heat-treated and freeze-dried. EFSA found it safe at the proposed dose in food supplements, while noting it contains proteins not detected in apples that may be allergenic.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel included this extract in its 2016 review of 26 apple-derived ingredients. It was reported in 29 products, almost all leave-on, at 0.00001 to 1 percent, and the Panel concluded it is safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing. The Panel found the data insufficient for a related ingredient, apple callus extract.
Reality check: plant “stem cells” are not like human stem cells. More than 50 cosmetic ingredients made from plant cell cultures reached the market in the decade to 2018, most with “stem cell” in their names, which signals that the culture began from meristems, the plant’s growing tissues. A 2017 review found that the cells in these products are already dead, that extracts cannot act the way living stem cells would, and that claimed benefits come from antioxidants and other compounds. Its authors concluded that, for now, creams advertised as anti-aging because of plant stem cells are about as effective as creams without them.
Sources: CIR: Safety Assessment of Apple-derived Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics (final report, 2016); EFSA Journal (2023): Safety of apple fruit cell culture biomass as a novel food; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2018): Plant cell culture technology in the cosmetics and food industries; Future Science OA (2017): Plant stem cells in cosmetics, current trends and future directions
