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Preservation of extracts post emulsion.
I am considering making my own extract (ginger) in the hopes of creating functional efficacy. Typically I do NOT formulate with extracts, (but this is a special project) so the concept is a little foreign to me. In order to make it correctly it will help if I understand some of the concepts of the commercial options (not concerning efficacy, but how the product will effect overall preservation of the final emulsified product based on how it was preserved as an extract).
It is my understanding that extracts are typically preserved in one of several manners, maybe a high glycerol base or some other glycol, or a traditional preservative like a “F” releaser.
So where my mind wanders too….is once it is incorporated (let’s use 1% inclusion rate for the sake of this example, and a water phase) into formula, then is it essentially no longer preserved, right? (As in, it is now watered down beyond the original specs, and hence can become ‘bug food’. What ever was preserving it before, no longer has to ability to preserve it now. This means… the different parts have met new friends…and did some comingling and are doing their own thing. They did not stay locked together in the new environment.) Also work under the assumption we will preserve the final formula….with an unrelated preservative method.
So some of the questions…. If I add a preserved extract to a formulation….have I now made a product that will require enhanced preservation (addition of bug food)….vs the same formula without the preserved extract?
Would there be any difference with adding the extract, and the method it was preserved (as far as the end product preservation is concerned). Meaning….a glycerol based preserved extract vs a ‘F’ releaser preserved extract. Does one of these methods stay bound (or any method)….through the process of comingling? In other words, is there an option in making an extract, where that 1% stays preserved even when introduced into an emulsion environment? I would assume…it would become just part of the emulsion, the preservative washed out, and would need to entirely rely on the final products preservation. And add to that…actually making the final product slightly more difficult to preserve, due to the fact that we have included….bug food. Or is there a method to preserve an extract, where it is essentially still preserved when introduced into a typical emulsion?
Excited to hear the responses.
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