It all started with an apple. A dull, sour apple, almost extinct, living quietly on a rare tree in a remote part of Switzerland.
Image Rex FeaturesNow, that humble apple is a big celebrity, with fans such as Michelle Obama and Helen Mirren.
It spends its time among beautiful people in swanky department stores. Why? Because this Swiss fruit is at the centre of what's being described as a 'revolution' in anti-ageing treatments.
It's claimed this ingredient can reverse skin ageing, increase the lifespan of human cells, and may even make it possible to grow back lost hair.
I'm used to hyperbole in the beauty world, but this new development is really getting the cosmetics companies excited.
They believe they have the science to prove that plant stem cells can be incorporated in skin creams, will interact with human skin stem cells, and can eliminate wrinkles and make skin look younger.
Human stem cells can turn into any part of the body and so are big news in medical research, but the law bans the use of embryonic stem cells in cosmetics.
So, instead, researchers turned their attention to plants. These also produce stem cells throughout their lives, both to grow, as a response to an injury.
The biggest 'star' in the stem cell world is called PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica.
Derived from a rare 18th-century species of apple tree, the Uttwiler Spatlauber, it first attracted attention, as it could be kept for months without withering.
In a paper published in the cosmetics industry journal, the Journal Of Applied Sciences, Swiss scientists noted: 'These apples must have especially long-living tissue stem cells. Could we profit from these stem cells?
'What would be the effect of an extract of such long-living stem cells on the skin?'
To find out, scientists cut pieces of the apple, which responded by forming a protective 'callous' made of plant stem cells on the surface.
These cells were grown in a liquid culture and put to the test. A solution containing one per cent apple stem cells seemed to boost cell production of human stem cells by a staggering 80per cent.
The human cells were irradiated with UV light, which killed 50 per cent of those grown in a normal liquid culture, but hardly any of those protected by the apple stem cells.
Also, hair follicles kept in a solution of Uttwiler Spatlauber continued to grow for 18 days, while those kept in a typical solution died after 14.
And, in tests on 20 women, applying a cream enriched with 2 per cent PhytoCell-Tec Malus Domestica twice a day reduced crows feet by eight per cent after a fortnight, and 15 per cent after four weeks.
Skincare companies rushed to include it in their ranges. But it doesn't come cheap. 3Lab, from Urban Retreat in Harrods and Selfridges, offers its Super 'h' Serum, £215, and M cream, £185.
Both contain apple stem cells, as does the company's £70 skin firming and lifting Super C Serum. Lancome has Absolue Precious Cells, £145 for 50ml, an anti-ageing cream it claims will 'help restore the potential of skin stem cells and bring back the skin of youth'.
No comments have been provided.