Database/Fragrance/Farnesene
100% natural origin · ISO 16128

Is Farnesene natural?

Yes. Occurs naturally in plants and is now largely produced by fermenting plant-derived sugars with engineered yeast; both routes are natural-origin.

INCI nameFarnesene
CAS502-61-4
FormulaC15H24 · 204.35 Da
FunctionFragrance · Perfuming
FeedstockCommercial farnesene is mainly produced by fermenting sugarcane-derived…

How we scored it

Sesquiterpene C15H24; whole molecule is natural whether obtained from plant extraction or yeast fermentation of sugar.
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

Commercial farnesene is mainly produced by fermenting sugarcane-derived sugars with engineered yeast. It also occurs naturally in apple peel and other plants as a minor extraction source.

In plain English

A woody, citrus-scented compound used as a fragrance ingredient. It occurs naturally in apple peel and many plants, and is now mostly produced by fermenting plant sugars with engineered yeast.

Structure

2D structure of Farnesene

(3E,6E)-3,7,11-trimethyldodeca-1,3,6,10-tetraene

PubChem CID 5281516 ↗

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. 2Farnesene. PubChem CID 5281516. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3FARNESENE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4FARNESENE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=FARNESENE