How we scored it
Carotenoid pigment; dominant commercial routes are tomato extraction and microbial fermentation, both natural. 100/100=1.00.
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
Lycopene is most commonly extracted from tomato processing waste, such as skins and pulp, or produced by fermentation using the mould Blakeslea trispora. A minor fully synthetic chemical route also exists but is not believed to dominate commercial cosmetic supply.
In plain English
A red antioxidant pigment naturally found in tomatoes, used in skincare for its antioxidant properties. It is typically extracted from tomatoes or produced by fermentation, rather than made synthetically.
Structure
(6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16E,18E,20E,22E,24E,26E)-2,6,10,14,19,23,27,31-octamethyldotriaconta-2,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,26,30-tridecaene
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.
- 2Lycopene. PubChem CID 446925. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3LYCOPENE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4Lycopene. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=Lycopene