Pierre Fabre launches Green Native Expression

Green Native Expression extracts pure sap from plants to incorporate it into cosmetics or nutraceutical products

France based pharma and cosmetics company, Pierre Fabre has announced the launch of Green Native Expression, a new patented extraction technology which is natural and eco-friendly. Eight years of research and development were required for Pierre Fabre to develop this process that works without adding water or solvent.

Green Native Expression extracts pure sap from plants to incorporate it into cosmetics or nutraceutical products (food supplements) in the form of active ingredients. The first product containing an active ingredient extracted using Green Native Expression will be launched under the Klorane brand in France in mid-February 2019, and internationally in mid-March.

According to the company statement, “To extract natural active ingredients using Green Native Expression technology, Pierre Fabre uses only fresh, non-processed plants. The plants are very briefly subjected to high pressure and large variations in temperature. This thermomechanical treatment completely breaks down the plant cell walls and neutralizes enzymes without damaging the native molecules that are present in the plant’s sap. Thanks to this process, the fresh plant’s cells break out. The water naturally found in the plant is liberated. It plays the role of an allnatural solvent. The juice obtained is 100% pure, has not been transformed in any way, and the active ingredients remain intact.

Bernard Fabre, Director of the Plant Products Laboratory, Pierre Fabre R&D said, “Green Native Expression reveals fresh plants in their simplest form by producing sap that is 100% pure, made only of the plant’s native active ingredients. With this patented technology, Pierre Fabre is the only company capable of obtaining sap quality of this level from fresh plants, thereby meeting the expectations of consumers looking for more natural and purer products.”

To secure and guarantee its resources, the Group grows the plants itself, according to organic farming certification. The active ingredients extracted from the plants are therefore fully identified and traceable. The fresh plants undergo the process near the fields where they were grown. This short supply chain means that Pierre Fabre works with local stakeholders and reduces the environmental impact of manufacturing its products. Green Native Expression complements this eco-friendly approach by producing more active ingredients using fewer plants, no water and no solvent. In fact, Green Native Expression makes it possible to obtain higher yields of active ingredients than obtained from pressing or solvent extraction.

Yves Barbin, Director of the Vegetal Active Ingredients Department, Pierre Fabre R&D said, “Through the visionary genius of its founder—a pharmacist and keen botanist—the Pierre Fabre group benefits from over 60 years’ experience in developing plant-based active ingredients: researching plants, growing them, extracting their active ingredients and incorporating them into our products. With Green  Native Expression, we have gone even further by developing an extraction technology that consumes less water and CO2—by eliminating drying processes—and it is guaranteed solvent-free. This enriches Botanical Expertise Pierre Fabre, our certified process for the responsible development of innovative active ingredients.”

Our collaboration with Bois Valor, a Tarn-based company, is perfectly in line with the Group’s desire to build partnerships that contribute to the economic vitality of its home region and to promote short supply channels,” comments Yves Barbin.

To develop this innovation, the Pierre Fabre group teamed up with a local company in the Tarn region, Bois Valor. It performs extrusion on fresh plants to obtain the initial extracts, which are then delivered to Gaillac to be filtered and stabilized using Green Native Expression technology.