Alanine has a Natural Origin Index (NOI) of 1.00 (scale 0–1) per ISO 16128. Produced by fermenting plant sugars, or enzymatically from fermentation-derived aspartic acid. An NOI of 1.00 means 100% of its molecular mass is traceable to a natural, renewable source.

Is Alanine natural? NOI 1.00 — Is That Natural?

How we scored it

Standard amino acid; fermentation of plant sugars or enzymatic decarboxylation of fermented aspartic acid → 100% natural

What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Made by fermenting plant-derived glucose with amino-acid-producing bacteria, or enzymatically from fermentation-derived aspartic acid.

In plain English

An amino acid used for skin and hair conditioning, part of skin's natural moisturising factor. Made by fermenting plant sugars.

Structure

(2S)-2-aminopropanoic acid

PubChem CID 5950 ↗

References

1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
2Alanine. PubChem CID 5950. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
3ALANINE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
4ALANINE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ALANINE