Database/Skin Conditioning/Folic Acid
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Folic Acid natural?

Mostly not. Only the glutamic acid portion is a fermentation amino acid; the pteridine ring and PABA are built from synthetic fine-chemical intermediates.

INCI nameFolic Acid
CAS59-30-3
FormulaC19H19N7O6 · 441.4 Da
FunctionSkin Conditioning
FeedstockIndustrial folic acid is made by total chemical…

How we scored it

Split: glutamic acid residue (146 Da, fermentation, natural) + pteridine core (175 Da) + PABA residue (120 Da), both synthetic. 146/441=0.33.
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

Industrial folic acid is made by total chemical synthesis, condensing a synthetic pteridine precursor with para-aminobenzoic acid and glutamic acid. Only the glutamic acid building block is reliably natural-origin (fermentation).

In plain English

Folic acid is a B-vitamin used to condition skin. It's produced by combining several manufactured building blocks, one of which (an amino acid) commonly comes from fermentation; the rest are synthesised from fine chemicals.

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Structure

2D structure of Folic Acid

(2S)-2-[[4-[(2-amino-4-oxo-3H-pteridin-6-yl)methylamino]benzoyl]amino]pentanedioic acid

PubChem CID 135398658 ↗

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. 2Folic Acid. PubChem CID 135398658. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3FOLIC ACID. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4FOLIC ACID. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=FOLIC%20ACID