How we scored it
Pentahydric sugar alcohol made by hydrogenating xylose from plant hemicellulose → 100% natural
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
Commercial xylitol comes from hydrogenating xylose obtained by hydrolysing hemicellulose in corn cobs or hardwoods.
In plain English
A plant-derived sugar alcohol used as a moisturiser. Made by extracting xylose sugar from corn cobs or wood fibre and converting it into xylitol.
CosIng definition: Xylitol is the pentahydric alcohol that conforms to the formula
Structure
(2R,4S)-pentane-1,2,3,4,5-pentol
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.
- 2Xylitol. PubChem CID 6912. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3XYLITOL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4XYLITOL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=XYLITOL