Database/Hair Conditioning/Pepsin
100% natural origin · ISO 16128

Is Pepsin natural?

Yes. Pepsin is a protein made only of amino acids, extracted from animal stomach tissue, so under the mass-balance method it counts as fully natural origin.

INCI namePepsin
CAS9001-75-6
FunctionHair Conditioning · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockTraditionally extracted from porcine or bovine gastric mucosa;…

How we scored it

Protein enzyme built entirely from amino acids; no synthetic modification. 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

Traditionally extracted from porcine or bovine gastric mucosa; some supply is now produced by microbial fermentation of the same protein sequence. Both routes yield an unmodified amino-acid protein.

In plain English

Pepsin is a natural digestive enzyme, traditionally obtained from the stomach lining of pigs or cows. In cosmetics it's used in small amounts as a skin- and hair-conditioning ingredient.

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. 2PEPSIN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEPSIN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PEPSIN