Can Slow Down Aging, These Are Skincare Ingredients From Frie Waste

Illustration of potatoes is used as skincare. (Pexels)

JAKARTA - Skincare ingredients that are useful for slowing aging or anti-aging can actually be found in potato waste. Precisely on potato stems and leaves.

Quoted from the New York Post, on Monday, December 1, 2025, a team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen is processing potato farm waste into high-value materials for skincare products.

The part of potatoes that are usually thrown away after harvest, namely stems and leaves, turns out to contain solanesol. This is an important compound in the manufacture of coenzyme Q10 and vitamin K2, two popular ingredients in moisturizing products and anti-aging treatments.

The innovation is believed to open up great opportunities. Starting from reducing dependence on tobacco as a source of solanesol, reducing agricultural waste, to creating a new economy for farmers.

"A very important project, both for the Grampian Growers and the potato industry as a whole," said Project Lead at Grampian Growers, Sofia Alexiou.

This research is also said to open a new vision for the use of agricultural waste, especially for the cosmetics industry. Solanesol from potato waste is considered to be very useful in cosmetic products with claims to help slow down aging.

"Research on the quality and solanesol results of local potato plants, as well as the evaluation of their use in the cosmetics industry and the like, are very interesting and have a big impact," explained Chair in Immunology at the University of Aberdeen, Heather Wilson.

This finding is also said to show how science can turn waste into valuable resources, as well as support agricultural communities in rural areas.

Meanwhile, a previous study published in Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin in 2019, revealed that potato skin extracts can stimulate skin cells to produce more collagen.

The findings could support findings related to the benefits of these leaves and potato stems, which may have a larger anti-aging effect than has been thought so far.