User:Alyssa Quintero/sandbox

Natural Preservatives are preservatives that come from natural sources. Natural preservatives are used for many different things such as food and cosmetics. They can be used as safer substitutes for artificial preservatives and a healthier alternative for humans.

Research has shown that using lemon extract as a natural preservative could prolong the shelf life of fresh fruit salad in supermarkets. This provides benefits to the industry by extending shelf life for buyers. It also proves that the use of natural ingredients to extend shelf life is a safer alternative for the environment and can replace the use of chemical preservatives.

Another study talks about the use of lavender, tea tree, and lemon as a natural preservative in oils of water body milks. The aim of this study was to develop a preservative system for cosmetics that would replace artificial preservatives with natural ingredients. The use of preservatives in cosmetics is to confirm that the products do not have imperfections or faults during production, packaging, and usage. These ingredients were tested as a substitute for artificial preservatives in cosmetics. In this experiment, it seems that these oils are not any better than using man made preservatives. However, a preservative system using both natural oils and artificial preservatives could be seen as a beneficial solution in this case.

Traditional preservatives such as sodium benozoate have raised health concerns. Benzoate was shown in a study to cause hypersensitivity in some athsma sufferers. This has caused scientists to examine natural preservatives which occur in vegetables such as the cucumber for potential alternatives to traditional preservatives such as Benzoate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservative#Natural_food_preservation