Royal Jelly-Containing Cosmetics 'Skin Wrinkle Improvement'... Rural Development Administration Expands Distribution of 'Jelly King'

In Human Application Test, Wrinkle Depth Reduced by Up to 21%

The Rural Development Administration announced on the 21st that a cosmetic product made from a patented royal jelly-containing cosmetic composition has been registered as a functional cosmetic for skin wrinkle improvement after review by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Royal jelly is a substance known as the food for queen bees, produced in the head part of worker bees.

Functional cosmetics differ from general cosmetics in that they can only be sold after proving functionality such as safety and efficacy through review by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Previously, the Rural Development Administration demonstrated through the project "Identification of unique components of domestic royal jelly and development of functional materials" last year that royal jelly protects skin cells from ultraviolet rays, reduces the expression of wrinkle-related proteins to inhibit wrinkle formation, and is effective for skin moisturizing. It was also confirmed that when a serum containing royal jelly was applied around the eyes, the average skin roughness decreased by 15.5%, and wrinkle depth was reduced by up to 21%.

Accordingly, the Rural Development Administration compiled research results on the safety and efficacy of royal jelly-containing cosmetics and submitted them to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in December last year. After reviewing the appropriateness and conducting an examination, the Ministry registered the royal jelly-containing cosmetics as functional cosmetics for skin wrinkle improvement in May this year. The composition of the royal jelly-containing cosmetic raw material has been transferred to industries, and product production and commercialization are underway. Products are expected to be released to the market as early as September this year.

The Rural Development Administration has been breeding honeybee breeds to produce high-quality royal jelly. In 2019, they registered the breed "Jelly King" and are establishing a national distribution system to supply it to farms. The Rural Development Administration expects that by 2026, they will be able to expand royal jelly production by multiplying and distributing the breed to farms.

To use royal jelly in the production of functional cosmetics, stable supply must be ensured through production contracts with beekeeping farms. Unlike other beekeeping products, producing royal jelly requires advanced technology. The Rural Development Administration has also established a "royal jelly mass production system" to enable beekeeping farms to produce royal jelly more systematically and stably. According to the Rural Development Administration, this system reduces time and labor in royal jelly production by manufacturing beehives with many young larvae and collecting royal jelly using devices. Along with this system, the Rural Development Administration plans to distribute production management manuals to improve the efficiency of royal jelly production.

Lee Sang-jae, Director of the Agricultural Biology Department at the Rural Development Administration, said, "Royal jelly-containing cosmetics are a successful industrial utilization achievement of our beekeeping products and are expected to become a new income source for beekeeping farms. We will do our best to support the stable production of royal jelly, revitalize domestic beekeeping farms, and present excellent products that satisfy consumers not only in Korea but also worldwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.