Silk Active’s latest development in processing and utilizing silk extracts opens a world of wonders for the benefit of the medical and health domain, as highlighted at the SIMA Asean 2018 in Thailand.
For over 6,000 years since its discovery in China, silk has enthralled millions of people globally. Sericulture, the cultivation of silkworms, has gone a long way and, at present, we see that silk is not only used for clothing as popularized by Jim Thompson, an American businessman credited for revitalizing the Thai silk industry in the 50s and 60s, but it can also be applied to nourish the skin and give remedy to certain medical diseases.
Silk Active, a skincare brand gaining recognition globally and headquartered in Thailand, are now producing the purest silk extracts with the funding and assistance given by the Thai Agricultural Research Development Agency. They developed & patented methods of raising and cultivating raw yellow silk and protein extraction without any use of chemicals that destroy beneficial extracts and patented their very own silk processing method wherein they extract pure proteins called Sericin and Lutein from raw yellow silk sheets that are produced by ethically sourced silkworms which create them on a rotating wheel.
This process is different from the traditional way of getting silk extracts where silkworms create individual cocoons that are then boiled to attain the silk extracts. With the innovative process developed by Silk Active, 95% of Sericin content purity are produced from the silk sheets that are boiled, compared to just 15-20% Sericin purity from small cocoons that are commonly used.
Sericin, has been proven to decrease wound healing time by as much as 40% and is used as a treatment for wounds and fresh scars due to its extraordinary abilities in cell regeneration. While Sericin is now found in their latest anti-aging and skincare products, the firm envisions to have Sericin in medical and health products in the future, as Husadin Khunajan, one of the Marketing Directors of Silk Active Thailand informed AgriExpo E-Magazine in an exclusive interview at the SIMA Asean 2018:
The original discovery was that in the silk boiling water there are protein extracts. The Japanese scientists applied these extracts in specialty bandages, and it helped heal wounds faster. The silk extracts were only used in the medical field because it was expensive for everyday skincare usage. In the future we will also have medical care products with specialty bandages and supplementary food. It is going to help with Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss and diabetes as well.
The methods of Silk Active are patented under the protection of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).
