Innovations

Bioorganic treatment

The use of enzymatic preparations and/or non-pathogenic preparations in Lobial products permits the breakdown of organic materials in a natural fashion and without the use of chemical substances.

• Enzymes

An enzyme is a protein, a natural molecule secreted by microorganisms, which , even when used in very small quantities, can accelerate by up to millions of times a chemical reaction. Enzymes react very quickly, which permits very fast results.

There exist more than two thousand different enzymes. Each one "recognizes” specifically one or a number of molecules according to a principle of complementarity of a key-in-lock type. The molecules on which an enzyme acts are defined as substrates of the enzymatic reaction. The fixing of the substrate on the enzyme has as a consequence the formation of a complex enzyme-substrate. At the end of the reaction, the substrate is converted into a product of the reaction; the enzyme is intact and can then intervene in another substrate molecule.

The use of enzymes is without risk to the environment and confers on products a very high breakdown capacity.

• Bacteria

Bacteria are microorganisms used for their capacity to produce enzymes corresponding exactly to the substrates to be broken down.

The microorganisms concerned are isolated from the environment or directly from the area to be cleaned up. They are selected, then stimulated to break down complex molecules. They thus become capable of synthesizing in large quantity the enzymes required for the breakdown of substrates.

Of the thousands of species of microorganisms in existence, only a few are dangerous to man. All bacteria used in Lobial products are non-pathogenic and do not harm the environment.

Surfactants

Surfactants are active molecules in detergents ; they represent on average 20% of a product's formula. These composites, 100% natural in origin, found in Lobial's products, have an amphiphilic structure which confers on them specific properties applied to good effect in numerous industrial processes. They possess, principally, softening, dissolving, detergent and emulsifying properties.

A surfactant is made of two parts : a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophilic group ; it may be completely of petrochemical origin, renewable, or mixed. Composites generally utilized for the hydrophilic group are : sugars or co-products of the starch industry (corn, sugar beets, or cereals), glycerol, peptides, amino acids or nucleotides. The lipophile chain is, in turn, essentially a product of vegetable oils obtained by trituration of seeds (or fruits) of oil-producing plants.

The majority of surfactants produced today come from the petrochemical industry. Surfactants made from renewable sources currently represent 20% of world volume.

Agro-surfactants made from renewable resources have a superior effect on the environment and eco-toxicological properties preferable to those derived from petrochemicals. Their incorporation into formulas is due to the multi-purpose nature, or their ability to be used for specific purposes, that they present.

At the environmental level, the undeniable advantage of plant-based resources is their renewable character. In fact their production links up with human activity, contrary to petrochemical resources, which are doomed more-or-less to exhaustion over the long term. Beyond this, the use of natural resources implies limitation of greenhouse gas production, in particular CO₂, an advantage not to be overlooked at the moment with respect to the Kyoto Protocol.

Agro-surfactants possess a high level of compatibility, by which is meant that they are characterized by both non-toxicity and benignity for both food sources and human beings themselves, whether this be via ingestion or repeated skin-contact. Moreover, they possess a highly reduced level of toxicity for ecosystems, not interfering with the natural environments into which they are injected.

Protection of the environment is not the only reason inciting use of products of natural origin. In fact nature puts at man's disposal molecules which, in their normal state or after modification, yield technical characteristics sometimes of a nature superior to conventional petroleum-based substances. Plant-based oils are pre-synthesized raw materials, which are thus already complex and often present interesting multi-functional possibilities. In fact, their emulsifying power may be associated for example with a hydrating or softening capacity. The principal oils today available to industry are those from soy, palm, rapeseed, sunflower, copra and palm-kernel.

The Essential Oils

The essential oils are concentrates of aromatic molecules secreted by plants and retained within different parts of aromatic plants (roots, stems, flowers, leaves, bark or skin). These are complex mixes of diverse molecules, found in proportions varying from one essence to another, which dissolve very little in water. The most widespread method of extraction is distillation.

Six groups of compounds are to be distinguished as entering into the composition of essential oils :

• terpenes
• alcohols : powerful bactericides
• phenols : offer a significant antiseptic capability
• aldehydes : produce a powerful aroma
• ketones
• acids and esters: give off fruity aromas and possess fungicidal properties

In addition to their powerful scents, essential oils offer generally interesting properties from a biological point of view.

Examples:

• Lemon : antiseptic, bactericide
• Lavende r: antiseptic, bactericide
• Eucalyptus : antiseptic
• Cinnamon : anti-infection, broad spectrum antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal
• Camphor : powerful analgesic
• Sage : antiseptic
• Mentha arvensis : antiseptic
• Thyme : fungistat, bacteriostat
• Clove (leaves) : powerful anti-infection agent; antibacterial, very powerful antiseptic
• Lemongrass : anti-infection agent, parasiticide
• Citrus bigaradia : antiseptic

Very expensive, sometimes difficult to obtain, requiring meticulous manipulation, natural perfumes are today often replaced by totally synthetic products obtained most notably from coal tar.

Our range of products contains, as perfuming compounds, exclusively essential oils which are entirely natural. In fact essential oils offer a greater level of innocuousness to the user and a minimal impact on the environment, as compared to synthesized scents.

These compounds, produced from out of the plant world, naturally contain substances potentially allergenic for the sensitive individual. As such compounds like citral and limonene are present in significant amounts in citrus fruits and therefore in the essences extracted from them.

In order to guarantee the best information to the user and particularly to people susceptible to developing allergic reactions, all compounds that are potentially reactive are indicated on the product packaging.