Cosmo Oil Co. and a group of researchers are jointly working to commercialize a hair growth tonic made of a type of amino acid.
According to Cosmo Oil officials, their prospective product would contain 5-aminolevulinic acid, which the oil distributor has sold as a plant fertilizer since 1999.
The company said combining the amino acid, which can be found in plants and animals, with iron and other substances can increase its effectiveness as a hair-growth catalyst.
A group of researchers led by Yoshiyasu Ito, a lecturer at National Defense Medical College, tested the amino acid on mice and observed a difference in hair growth after three weeks.
The hair grew 2 mm with the substance against 0.5 mm growth using hair growth products already on the market, the company said.