How we scored it
Extract of cactus fruit: sugars, mucilage polysaccharides, pigments and organic acids are all plant-derived (n=1). Extraction solvent leaves no mass. Total 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
Dominant route is water or hydroglycolic extraction of the cactus fruit. No alternative route is commercially significant.
In plain English
An extract made by soaking the fruit of the nopal cactus (a prickly-pear relative) in a water-based solvent. It is used as a humectant, which attracts and holds water, and as a skin-conditioning ingredient.
CosIng definition: Nopalea Cochenillifera Fruit Extract is the extract of the fruit of Nopalea cochenillifera, Cactaceae.
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.
- 2NOPALEA COCHENILLIFERA FRUIT EXTRACT. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 3NOPALEA COCHENILLIFERA FRUIT EXTRACT. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=NOPALEA%20COCHENILLIFERA%20FRUIT%20EXTRACT