Biological activities and safety assessment of Teleogryllus mitratus extracts for skin delivery via nanoemulsion-based systems

This study aimed to investigate the cosmeceutical effects of cricket extracts and assess their delivery through a nanoemulsion system. Different species of crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus , Teleogryllus mitratus , and Acheta domesticus ) were freeze-dried, defatted, and extracted using aqueous, enzyme-assisted, and protein isolation methods. Extracts were evaluated for total protein content, amino acid composition, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-hyaluronidase activities. The most bioactive extract was incorporated into an oil-in-water nanoemulsion, which was characterized for droplet size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, morphology, entrapment efficiency (EE), release profile, in vitro permeation and retention. The Subtilisin A-assisted extract of T. mitratus (TMS) contained the highest protein content (76.0 ± 1.1% w /w) and potent bioactivity, with tyrosinase IC 50 values of 65.4 ± 6.9 μg/mL (L-tyrosine) and 395.9 ± 77.2 μg/mL (L-DOPA), and an anti-hyaluronidase IC 50 of 12.5 ± 3.5 μg/mL. Nanoemulsion incorporation achieved 46.36 ± 1.69% EE and 0.20 ± 0.01% loading capacity, with nanoscale droplet sizes (288.3 ± 11.3 nm) and high stability (PDI < 0.3; zeta potential < −30 mV). Therefore, the TMS-loaded nanoemulsion provided multifunctional cosmeceutical benefits.