Database/Buffering/Sodium Citrate
100% natural origin · ISO 16128

Is Sodium Citrate natural?

Yes. The sodium salt of citric acid, itself a sugar-fermentation product, neutralized with natural mineral sodium.

INCI nameSodium Citrate
CAS68-04-2
FormulaC6H5Na3O7 · 258.07 Da
FunctionBuffering · Chelating
FeedstockProduced by neutralizing fermentation-derived citric acid, made from…

How we scored it

Sodium salt of fermentation-derived citric acid plus natural mineral sodium; 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.

How it’s made

Neutralisation of citric acid with sodium hydroxide (one carboxyl drawn). The film draws the key step and names the steps after it. Each curved arrow moves one electron pair, and the film ends on the score above.

Where it comes from

Produced by neutralizing fermentation-derived citric acid, made from fermented corn starch or molasses, with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate. Both the acid and the sodium counter-ion are of natural or mineral origin.

In plain English

The sodium salt of citric acid, a fermentation-derived fruit acid. Buffers and adjusts pH and binds trace metals that could destabilize a formula.

Structure

2D structure of Sodium Citrate

trisodium;2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate

PubChem CID 6224 ↗

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. 2Sodium Citrate. PubChem CID 6224. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SODIUM CITRATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SODIUM CITRATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20CITRATE