β-glucan is a glucose polymer that is obtained from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) and is beneficial for, but not limited to, fighting viruses; it can also be found in mushrooms and oats. β-glucan is considered a biological response modifier because of its immunomodulating properties.1 Therefore, it can be an important component in the production of cancer prevention vaccines.2 For example, this polymer can also be applied to burns and can treat chronic diabetic wounds.3 Because of its properties, β-glucan can even be used as an age prevention and moisture retention component in skin care products.

BENEFITS OF Β-GLUCAN
Diabetic Wounds: A clinical study showed that β-glucan can help heal non-healing ulcers found on diabetic patients when given orally or administered topically. β-glucan helps the epithelialization process, which is an important factor in wound healing, because it forms granulation tissue onto the open wound. This tissue allows the migration of epidermal cells to take place in wounds.3

Skin Care: Skin protection from ultraviolet rays is extremely important, especially for environmentally damaged or aging skin. If used in sunscreen, β-glucan can serve as a great ingredient to help with photoprotection of the skin. Sunscreen can prevent burns, but it does not guarantee protection from skin cancers since ultraviolet rays kill off Langerhans cells. Langerhans cells are antigen-presenting immune cells of the skin. If added to sunscreen, β-glucan can help in the preservation of these cells.1

β-glucan is one of the most studied agents in yeast. There are still many studies to be conducted and the research is very promising. It is anticipated that before long, yeast will not only be a common ingredient found in daily nutrition, but also in everything related to daily skin care.

References
1 Petravic-Tominac, V., Zechner-Krpan, V., Grba, S., Srecec, S., Panjkota-Krbavcic, I., & Vidovic, L. (2010). Biological effects of yeast ß-glucans. Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus (ACS), 75(4), 149-158.
2 Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, 16(3), 180-186.Matuo, R., Sousa, F. G., Soares, D. G., Bonatto, D., Saffi, J., Escargueil, A. E., & ... Henriques, J. P. (2012). Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system to study the response to anticancer agents. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, 70(4), 491-502.
3 Karaaslan, O., Kankaya, Y., Sungur, N., Kocer, U., Cuzdart, S., et al. (2012). Case series of topical and orally administered ß-glucan for the treatment of diabetic wounds: Clinical study.