How we scored it
L-Ergothioneine produced by microbial fermentation (engineered yeast/bacteria) from glucose and amino-acid precursors; fermentation-product convention = 1.0.
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
Ergothioneine is produced commercially by fermentation using engineered yeast or bacteria fed on glucose, which has replaced the historically inefficient mushroom-extraction route. No petrochemical total-synthesis route is commercially significant in cosmetics.
In plain English
An antioxidant compound originally found in mushrooms, now produced by fermenting engineered microbes. It is added to skincare for its antioxidant, skin-conditioning properties.
CosIng definition: Ergothioneine is the heterocyclic compound that conforms to the formula
Structure
(2S)-3-(2-sulfanylidene-1,3-dihydroimidazol-4-yl)-2-(trimethylazaniumyl)propanoate
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.
- 2Ergothioneine. PubChem CID 5351619. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3ERGOTHIONEINE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4ERGOTHIONEINE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ERGOTHIONEINE