Preservatives: Liquid Leucidal (Ecocert)

Please read this Weekend Wondering post on this preservative as there are some concerns that it might not work well or at all. I know the appeal of natural can be very strong, but if it's on par with using no preservatives, we are putting ourselves and our loved ones at risk for all kinds of gross stuff! 

Yesterday we took a look at Advanced Aloe Leucidal - today let's take a look at Liquid Leucidal as an Ecocert preservative.

Liquid Leucidal
INCI: Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate

From Lotioncrafter: "Derived from radishes fermented with Leuconostoc kimchii, a lactic acid bacteria that has traditionally been used to make kimchi, this product consists of an isolated peptide that is secreted from the bacteria during the fermentation process that has been shown to have antimicrobial benefits."

Liquid Leucidal is a water soluble broad spectrum preservative best used at under 70˚C (cool down phase) at 2% to 4%. It may not be compatible with some cationic ingredients, so be careful using this in hair care products (conditioners, leave-in conditioners, shampoos with cationic polymers), body care products in which you might be using cationic polymers, or lotions in which you might use BTMS.

A disclaimer about this last sentence: I wasn't able to confirm the information about incompatibility with cationic ingredients anywhere but the Herbarie. We saw yesterday that Advanced Aloe Leucidal was incompatible with some cationic ingredients, but that doesn't mean that this product is incompatible with cationic ingredients, too. I would expect the data sheets from the company (see below) to provide some information on incompatibilities, and I didn't find anything about avoiding cationic ingredients, so use them at your own risk. In my experiments, I avoided cationic ingredients - primarily cationic polymers - just to be on the safe side. 

The company claims that 1% liquid Leucidal can increase moisturization of our skin by 10% thanks to the isolated peptide.

This preservative would be suitable for all your products that contain water, although I recommend that you ensure your product is at 45˚C or lower before including it in the cool down phase. I tried it with lotions and twice the product seized horribly (once at 50˚C, the other at 52˚C). I've tried it with Polawax and Ecomulse (aka Ritamulse) and found no difference (in the ones that didn't seize, but that was a temperature thing).

I've tried it with a body wash and a bubble bath and found no problems in incorporating it into the cool down phase. So far, all of these products show no visible contamination.

Here's the data sheet on this product from Lotioncrafter! And here's a data sheet with information on the moisturizing properties of just 1% of liquid Leucidal. And here's a Powerpoint presentation with some sample formulae.

Join me tomorrow as we take a look at Nata-Pres, another Ecocert preservative!