Ginko biloba extract

Ginko biloba

INCI: GINKO BILOBA EXTRACT

How it works:

Its healing abilities are well known and documented. Chinese traditional medicine used Ginko for thousands of years. Recent studies show that Ginko has a variety of applications in skin care.

Ginko biloba is a strong ant-oxidant, and either ingested or applied topically. Its effects are mainly down to the presence of quercetin, a powerful antioxidant which has potent anti-inflammatory and defensive qualities.

Ginkgo includes flavonols such as kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin; flavones, including luteolin and triacetin; biflavones, mainly bilobetin, ginkgetin, isoginkgetin and sciadopitysin, catechins, proanthocyanidins; sterols and 6-hydroxykynurenic acid.

Scientists discovered that it could treat eczema, acne, facial redness and inflammation.

Ginkgo act also as a vasodilator, it can improve circulation, promote sebaceous secretions, decrease capillary hyper-permeability, improve tissue irrigation and activate cell metabolism (especially in the cortex, by increasing glucose and oxygen uptake).

Gingko also helps to boost collagen formation and create fibroblast. It increases the creation of fibroblast collagen.

A 2003 study suggested that ginkgo may effectively halt de-pigmentation and aid in re-pigmentation as well.

When applied in skin creams and ingested in moderate amounts, Ginkgo provides amazing benefits and is considered extremely safe. 

Anti-radiation effects of Ginko Biloba leaf extracts

A study conducted by Kang and colleagues (1) used collected human white blood cells, lymphocytes, from healthy donors aged 18 to 50 years. The team treated half of the cells with G. biloba extract and treated the control group with a salt solution placebo. They compared the effects of gamma radiation from radioactive cesium on the white blood cells against the untreated control samples.

The team looked for lymphocytes undergoing programmed cell death, or apoptosis, as a result of radiation exposure. There was a big increase in apoptosis in the untreated cells whencompared with those treated with G. biloba extract. 

Almost a third of the untreated cells underwent apoptosis compared to approximately one in twenty of the treated cells. Parallel studies also found a similar protective effect against radiation poisoning.

The results suggest that the extracts of Ginko Biloba can neutralize the free-radicals and oxidizing agents produced by the radiation and so prevent them from undergoing apoptosis.

Journal Reference:

  1. Shin et al. Protective effect of Gingko biloba against radiation-induced cellular damage in human peripheral lymphocytes and murine spleen cells. International Journal of Low Radiation, 2009; 6 (3): 209 DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2009.028889Journal Reference:

Further scientifically relevant research on Ginko biloba extract: