Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate
Stearyl glycyrrhetinate is the stearyl ester of 18-beta-glycyrrhetinic acid, the aglycone left when the sugar chain is cleaved from the licorice saponin glycyrrhizin, and is used almost entirely as a soothing active in cosmetic and topical formulation rather than as a food ingredient.
The molecule pairs a pentacyclic triterpene head with a straight eighteen-carbon alkyl chain esterified to its carboxyl group. That esterification is the whole point of the material: free glycyrrhetinic acid is difficult to disperse in a cream base, while the stearyl ester is lipophilic, blends into the oil phase without a solubiliser and stays there through the emulsion. It carries the INCI name Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate and CAS number 13832-70-7.
The commercial form is a white to pale cream fine powder with little odour, melting in the region of 90 to 100 degrees Celsius. It is practically insoluble in water and disperses in warm oils, esters and fatty alcohols, so it is added to the oil phase during heating and carried through the emulsification step. Typical inclusion in a finished formulation is a fraction of a percent. The ester is stable across the pH range normal to skin-care products and through standard manufacturing temperatures, but prolonged heating in strongly alkaline conditions will hydrolyse it back toward the free acid.
We source bulk Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Jiangsu. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | White to pale cream fine powder |
| INCI name | Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate |
| Assay by HPLC | 98.0 percent minimum |
| Identification | Infrared spectrum matches reference standard |
| Free glycyrrhetinic acid | 1.0 percent maximum |
| Melting range | 90 to 100 degrees Celsius |
| Loss on drying | 1.0 percent maximum |
| Residue on ignition | 0.5 percent maximum |
| Particle size | 100 percent through 100 mesh |
| Residual ethanol | 0.5 percent maximum |
| Heavy metals | 10 ppm maximum |
| Lead | 1.0 ppm maximum |
| Arsenic | 1.0 ppm maximum |
| Total plate count | 100 cfu per gram maximum |
Common Markets Grades
The material is traded essentially as a single cosmetic specification rather than as a family of grades. Assay is normally 98 percent minimum by HPLC, with the powder milled to a fine, free-flowing particle size that disperses without grit in a warm oil phase. Where a supplier offers more than one grade the difference is usually micronisation, with a finer milled version sold for clear or lightly pigmented formulations where undispersed particles would show.
Related but distinct articles that should not be confused with it on a specification are glycyrrhetinic acid itself, sold at 95 to 98 percent as a free acid, dipotassium glycyrrhizinate, which is the water-soluble salt used in the aqueous phase, and stearyl glycyrrhizinate, a different ester. There is no food or pharmaceutical grade in normal trade; the ingredient is made to cosmetic specification and is qualified against the INCI name and CAS number rather than against a pharmacopoeial monograph.
Applications
- Facial creams and lotions for sensitive skin, where it is the oil-phase soothing active
- After-sun and post-procedure preparations formulated for irritated or reddened skin
- Anti-blemish and acne-adjacent skin care, paired with salicylic acid or niacinamide
- Baby care creams and barrier ointments, where a mild lipophilic active is preferred
- Colour cosmetics with a skin-care positioning, including foundations and tinted moisturisers
- Sunscreen emulsions, where it is added to the oil phase alongside the ultraviolet filters
- Lip balms and stick products, in which the melting behaviour suits the wax base
- Scalp treatments and leave-on hair products aimed at scalp comfort
China Manufacturers of Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate
Top Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Stearyl glycyrrhetinate is a cosmetic ingredient, and its regulatory position follows cosmetic rather than food law. In the United States cosmetic ingredients other than colour additives require no pre-market approval, and the ingredient is used under the general safety and labelling provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as amended by the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act, which added facility registration and product listing obligations. It must appear on the label under its INCI name. It is not GRAS, is not the subject of a food additive regulation, and is not intended for use in food.
In the European Union the ingredient falls under the Cosmetic Products Regulation, is listed in the Union cosmetic ingredient database under its INCI name, and is neither prohibited nor restricted by the annexes to that regulation, so it may be used subject to the safety assessment required for the finished product. It has no E number and no food additive status, and the labelling requirements that apply to liquorice-derived glycyrrhizinic acid in food are not engaged, since this is an ester of the aglycone used topically. No Codex standard or JECFA specification applies. Buyers should note that any claim made for a finished product containing it is assessed against the cosmetic claims framework and must not stray into medicinal territory.
Manufacturing Process
The starting material is glycyrrhizin recovered from licorice root, most often as crude glycyrrhizic acid precipitated from the aqueous root extract. This is hydrolysed under acid conditions, which cleaves the two glucuronic acid units from the triterpene core and yields 18-beta-glycyrrhetinic acid. The crude acid is separated by filtration, washed free of sugars and mineral acid, and purified by recrystallisation from ethanol or a similar solvent to a high assay, since impurities carried forward at this stage are difficult to remove after esterification.
The purified glycyrrhetinic acid is then esterified with stearyl alcohol. The reaction is run in the melt or in an inert solvent with an acid catalyst, at elevated temperature and usually under reduced pressure or with an entrainer so that the water formed is removed and the equilibrium driven toward the ester. On completion the mixture is cooled, neutralised to remove catalyst, and washed. The crude ester is recrystallised from solvent to strip unreacted acid and residual stearyl alcohol, filtered, dried under vacuum at a temperature well below the melting point, then milled, screened and blended. Release testing covers assay, free glycyrrhetinic acid, residual solvent and heavy metals.
