Produção industrial de cosméticos: o protagonismo da biodiversidade vegetal da Amazônia

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the emerging use of assets of Amazonian plant biodiversity in the commercial production of cosmetics by industries located in Manaus, in the rest of Brazil and abroad, and the commercial appeal of the region. From research carried out on a sample of 20 companies in the respective sector, it was found that two dozen regional species, represented mainly by by-products such as oils, extracts, resins, essential oils and vegetable fats, were being used as ingredients in the composition of cosmetics. The results showed that currently this industry moves forward regardless of any value judgement, on traditional and new resources of regional biodiversity, whether it is a herbal, nutritional or medicinal plant. The assets most in demand were castanha-da-Amazônia (Bertholletia excelsa Humb), andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl), açaí (Euterpe oleracea/precatoria Mart), cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum Willd. ex Spreng. Schum), buriti (Mauritia flexuosa L), mulateiro (Calycophyllum spruceanum Benth) and copaíba (Copaifera spp). The appeal or the commercial promotion linking the name of Amazonia has also been found as a practice in companies, suggesting the strategic introduction of the regional ingredient, not only as a technical item, but also as a tool for competitiveness in the scope of corporate marketing management. The involvement of synthetic essential oils of several regional plants in the composition of various cosmetics has also been characterised, referring to a scenario in which the importance of this biodiversity as a factor of competitive advantage for the region becomes relative. The picture suggests a new trend of depletion as happened with rubber, with the distinguishing factor of affecting a sector even before it becomes economically as significant as the former, but which could be overcome with effective and specific public policies for the situation of a region which is strategic for Brazil