Caviar has moved from the tables of luxury restaurants into supplements and skincare creams marketed to combat wrinkles and improve hydration and elasticity. However, the available studies still offer only preliminary evidence, insufficient to prove its effectiveness as a treatment for skin ageing.
While limited human trials have recorded improvements in several skin indicators, the samples remained small and follow-up periods short. Some of the products tested also contained other ingredients, making it difficult to separate their effects from those of caviar. Caviar, sometimes described as “black gold”, is the unfertilised roe of sturgeon. This group of fish faces major environmental threats, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifying it among the groups of species most at risk of extinction.
Some varieties of beluga caviar can cost thousands of dollars per kilogram, owing to their scarcity and the long time female sturgeon take to reach maturity. For decades, Russian and Iranian caviar was associated with the Caspian Sea region, before aquaculture farms redrew the map of the industry.
China has become the largest producer of sturgeon and one of the leading producers and exporters of caviar worldwide. As its use expanded beyond food, scientific interest turned to testing whether its value in skincare products extends beyond the image associated with luxury and high prices.
Caviar compounds and their potential pathways of action
Caviar contains proteins, amino acids, minerals and fats, including omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid, commonly known as DHA, and eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA. These compounds have been studied for their potential role in processes linked to inflammation and skin health. However, their presence in caviar alone does not prove that eating it or applying it to the skin produces an anti-wrinkle effect.
Caviar extracts contain amino acids and small peptides, prompting researchers to study their potential ability to affect the production of collagen and hyaluronic acid, counter oxidative stress and intervene in some pathways associated with the deterioration of skin structure.
A Korean trial of caviar extract
Most research does not test the consumption of conventional caviar as food, but instead examines concentrated or enzyme-treated extracts, or oils used in supplements and products with specific formulations. Among the leading pieces of human evidence is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted by researchers in South Korea and published in the journal Nutrients at the end of 2023.
The trial involved 45 adults with dry skin and wrinkles, divided into three groups and followed for eight weeks. The first group took 500 milligrams a day of an enzyme-treated caviar extract obtained using supercritical fluid extraction.
The second group received 10 milligrams of the extract in a formulation that also included fish collagen, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, biotin and additional ingredients, while the third group received a placebo for comparison. After four weeks, researchers recorded improvements in some measures of skin hydration in both groups that had taken caviar extract.
At the end of the eight weeks, improvements appeared in measures of skin elasticity and wrinkles compared with the placebo group. The melanin index also fell in both caviar groups, while the 500-milligram group improved on several measures more than the combined-formulation group.
The researchers attributed the results to a possible effect of the extract on pathways linked to the production of hyaluronic acid and collagen and resistance to oxidative stress, based on earlier cell and animal experiments. However, the study was small and lasted no more than eight weeks. In addition, the caviar used was supplied by a company operating in the sector.
The extract’s manufacturer, together with the supplying company, also registered a patent linked to its use against skin ageing. This does not invalidate the reported results, but reinforces the need to test the product in independent trials involving more participants and longer follow-up before determining the size or durability of its effect. Research also expanded from oral supplements to topical products.
Tests of caviar oil on the skin
In another study published in 2023, researchers in South Korea tested the effect of caviar oil on skin ageing through several stages. Testing began with laboratory cells, moved to human skin tissue outside the body and ended with human trials using a product applied directly to the skin. The product tested contained 15% caviar oil alongside other ingredients.
A total of 102 people took part in five separate clinical studies assessing measures including wrinkles, hydration, elasticity and skin density. In the prolonged-use trials, participants were asked to apply the product three times a day for four weeks. Laboratory tests showed increased formation of type I and type III collagen, as well as elastin, in skin tissue.
The researchers also recorded reductions in some enzymes associated with the breakdown of extracellular-matrix components. After four weeks of use, improvements appeared in skin hydration, elasticity, radiance and density, alongside reduced transepidermal water loss and improvements in some wrinkle measures.
However, these results do not prove that caviar oil was the only factor responsible for the improvement. The formulation included other ingredients, including ceramides, adenosine and cranberry extract, each of which could affect skin indicators. Their combination in a single product makes it difficult to isolate caviar oil’s contribution and determine how much of the benefit can be attributed to it alone.
Chinese evidence on photoageing in mice and cells
In China, scientists studied the ability of caviar extract to counter “photoageing”, the changes that affect skin as a result of chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The study appeared online in late 2024 and was then published in a 2025 issue of the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology.
The researchers used a caviar extract treated with the enzyme acid protease and tested it on skin cells and mice exposed to ultraviolet radiation. The results showed lower levels of proteins associated with inflammation and the breakdown of skin components, including NF-κB, MMP-3 and MMP-9, alongside higher levels of other indicators linked to tissue protection.
In mice, the extract reduced some tissue changes caused by ultraviolet radiation, increased the activity of an antioxidant enzyme and raised levels of hydroxyproline, an amino acid associated with collagen structure. These findings offer a possible biological explanation for how the extract affects skin, but they remain preclinical evidence and do not guarantee that the same effect, or the same degree of effect, would be reproduced in humans.
In terms of safety, the clinical trial in which participants took 500 milligrams of caviar extract daily for eight weeks recorded no serious adverse events. The researchers said blood, biochemical and urine tests showed no clinically significant changes during the testing period.
However, this finding applies only to the product, dose and period examined in the study, and does not establish the safety of all caviar extracts or supplements and creams containing them when used over long periods. Products vary significantly in concentration, extraction methods and added ingredients, and the results for a tested extract cannot be applied to every product labelled “caviar”.
The current scientific evidence indicates that the use of caviar in skincare is not based solely on its luxury name. Laboratory and animal findings, along with small human studies, link it to potential benefits for hydration, elasticity, collagen formation and the appearance of wrinkles.
However, the number of human trials remains limited, their samples small and their durations short. Some examined combination products rather than caviar alone. Caviar therefore remains an ingredient under investigation, not a proven treatment that reverses skin ageing.
Current evidence does not demonstrate that it can remove the effects of time from the skin, and a product’s high cost does not necessarily mean it will produce better results. Establishing its effectiveness requires larger, independent human trials with longer follow-up, using formulations that allow the effect of caviar to be separated from that of the other ingredients.
