Native renewal

Harakeke seeds and the extracted oil, which is used in Endue’s Snowberry skin renewal range.

Its newest unique difference, though, comes from harakeke seed oil and a joint effort with IRL’s Integrated Bioactive Technologies team.

“Our customer focus is offshore, specifically Germany, Korea and the UK,” says Endue Managing Director Mark Henderson. “Our customers are interested in high-quality ingredients that can’t be found in other products. Harakeke oil is a very fine, light emollient that improves the texture of moisturising cream and is demonstrably good for the skin.”

Being able to include it in formulations is an important achievement for Endue. The company currently uses approximately 30 different plant extracts but harakeke is the first from a New Zealand native. Since it launched in 2006, the company’s ambition has been to incorporate New Zealand native plant extracts, and it contacted IRL about the best natives to grow and how to extract the oils.

Oil from the first harvest of harakeke seeds was obtained at IRL using supercritical fluid extraction technology, which uses carbon dioxide – a natural component of air – instead of chemical solvents.

The term supercritical means that the process is carried out under high atmospheric pressure.

In the case of Endue’s harakeke, the seeds are loaded in a vessel which is then pressurised. Passed through the vessel under high-pressure conditions, the carbon dioxide becomes a liquid and acts as a solvent. The oil in the seeds dissolves into the liquefied carbon dioxide. After the extraction is complete, the pressure in the vessel is reduced and the carbon dioxide reverts to a gas. When the gas is released, pure oil remains.

“We do proof of concept for companies like Endue at IRL,” says IRL Senior Research Scientist Steve Tallon. Tallon says that his team processes just about anything that contains oil: they’ve processed a range of plants, seeds, spices, herbs and dairy products. Extracting essential oils from herbs, he explains, concentrates the flavour as it does the smell for fragrances.

Endue grows 12 varieties of indigenous New Zealand plants, including harakeke, puka and kanuka, at its 22.5 hectare Snowberry Gardens, east of Wellsford. The harakeke seeds are currently being harvested, Henderson says.

The first harakeke harvest proved the concept and the oil was included in product that went to market in December 2010. The plantation at capacity will process up to 450kg of harakeke seeds, resulting in roughly 110kg of oil, which will contribute to about 3,000-4,000kg of Snowberry product.

Henderson is also hopeful of the results that might come from puka berry extraction, work currently being discussed by IRL and Endue. As the company and IRL collaborate on more anti-aging R&D, he anticipates that gradually more New Zealand products like these will be included in the product formulations.

That’s good news for Endue and for customers who are prepared to pay a premium for the high-quality, value-added products they put on their skin. “They see New Zealand as a very special, trustworthy place.”