Database/Hair Conditioning/Calcium Pantothenate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Calcium Pantothenate natural?

Mostly not. Vitamin B5 salt made by chemical synthesis; apart from the calcium counter-ion the molecule is built from petrochemical intermediates.

INCI nameCalcium Pantothenate
CAS137-08-6
FormulaC18H32CaN2O10 · 476.5 Da
FunctionHair Conditioning · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockPetrochemical pantolactone and beta-alanine, neutralised with calcium.

How we scored it

Commercial calcium pantothenate is made chemically from pantolactone (isobutyraldehyde + formaldehyde + HCN, petrochemical) and beta-alanine (acrylonitrile + ammonia, petrochemical); only the calcium 40.1 Da of 476.5 Da is natural mineral origin. 40.1/476.5 = 0.08. A fermentation route exists but is not commercially significant, so the value is not route-dependent.
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

Petrochemical pantolactone and beta-alanine, neutralised with calcium.

In plain English

The calcium salt of vitamin B5, most often built up in a lab from simple chemical building blocks, though a fermentation-based version also exists. Used in hair and skin products as a conditioning ingredient.

CosIng definition: Calcium Pantothenate is the calcium salt of pantothenic acid that conforms to the formula:

Natural alternatives with the same function

Acacia Concinna Fruit Powder 100% natural origin

Shikakai fruit powder, made by drying and grinding the seed pods of the Acacia concinna plant. Traditionally used…

 Acronychia Acidula Fruit Extract 100% natural origin

An extract of lemon aspen, an Australian native fruit, used to condition skin and hair and help hold…

 Actinidia Chinensis Fruit 100% natural origin

Material from the kiwi fruit used to condition skin and hair, supplying fruit sugars, acids and vitamins. It…

 Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil 100% natural origin

An oil pressed from baobab tree seeds, used to nourish and condition skin and hair. It is harvested…

 Adansonia Grandidieri Seed Oil 100% natural origin

A nourishing oil pressed from the seeds of the Madagascar baobab tree. It's used to condition skin and…

 Agastache Rugosa Extract 100% natural origin

An extract of the whole Korean mint plant (Agastache rugosa), made by soaking the plant in a solvent…

Structure

2D structure of Calcium Pantothenate

calcium bis(3-[[(2R)-2,4-dihydroxy-3,3-dimethylbutanoyl]amino]propanoate)

PubChem CID 443753 ↗

References

  1. 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.
  2. 2Calcium Pantothenate. PubChem CID 443753. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CALCIUM%20PANTOTHENATE