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Ammonium glycyrrhizate
I saw this ingredient in Burt’s Bees Vanilla Bean Lip balm and am curious of its function. UL prospector tells me that it can act as a skin conditioning agent but other sources mention other uses such as flavoring agent, preservative, etc. I couldn’t find any other preservatives in the LOI so am I correct to assume that its included as a preservative or enhance the flavor? I know there’s no water in the lip balm so it technically doesn’t need a preservative, but I doubt they would take that risk.Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil,
cera alba (beeswax, cire d’abeille), aroma (flavor), ricinus communis
(castor) seed oil, lanolin, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter,
theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, vanilla tahitensis fruit extract,
vanilla planifolia fruit extract, ammonium glycyrrhizate, tocopherol,
glycine soja (soybean) oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf
extract, canola oil (huile de colza) -
4 Replies
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Aha. I am guessing that they have either bought that from China or synthesised it. I haven’t seen that particular salt on sale, the usual one is the potassium form. I synthesise that myself from the pure acid. I suspect that using TEA instead of KOH will produce the ammonium salt but I’d need to do some research to verify that.
Purpose? Well, first, it is a very strong sweetener so probably they are using it for that. Not a preservative. Does have skin conditioning effects. Quite a useful and appropriate ingredient. -
Thank you @Belassi . I had a feeling this ingredient would peak your interest.
So that means that they don’t have a preservative, which is weird to me. -
They probably reason that if it is anyhdrous, they don’t need a preservative. Not that I agree, you understand.
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Mmm an interesting one @Christopher. If you are ever trying to work out where an ingredient could come from and what it is have a look at the last part of the name indicating that it could come from a root i.e. glycyrrhizate or glycyr- rhizate meaning root. If you have done biology at least that will give you a clue. It is a good multi-functional ingredient.@Belassi yes I agree, if your re-using it on your lips that continually have microbe colonies festering on, in and around. Just licking your lips could start up a bacterial party that could last for weeks. Surely there should be some merit to use a preservative?Any thoughts?
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