Foam and mildness "play together" in the next generation APG^® surfactant.

Plantapon^® LGC Sorb retains the excellent mildness of the APG^® surfactants while improving important consumer-related attributes such as foam and sensorial experience. The key to this improvement is the introduction of an anionic group into the APG^® molecule. Plantapon^® LGC Sorb, which has the INCI 'Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate (and) Lauryl Glucoside', is a liquid surfactant recommended for various personal care cleansing applications where mildness and sensorial appeal is required, e.g. mild facial washes, specialty shampoos, and baby cleansing products.

Plantapon^® LGC Sorb adds following values:

• Generous foam
• Very good skin compatibility
• Gentle mild cleansing
• Foam stability at low pH values
• Suitable as primary surfactant for alternative formulations

Excellent foam behavior

Figure 1 shows that the volume and appearance of foam generated by either Sodium Laureth Sulfates (SLES) or Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate (SLGC) surfactants is similar.

 

Foam height=8,2cm

Foam height=8,0 cm

 

SLGC forms smaller and denser bubbles which is often associated with greater foam stability (Figure 2). This was confirmed by the results shown in Figure 3. After 30 minutes, the SLGC foam still had denser bubbles and significantly more volume than the SLES foam.

 

 

Foam formed immediately after washing hair tresses with 10% (w/w) solutions
of the surfactants SLES or SLGC.

 

 

Foam of the 10% (m/m) solutions of SLES and SLGC
observed 30 min after formation.

The sensorial evaluation of a liquid soap formulation containing SLGC in comparison to the same formulation containing SLES confirmed above results:  For all the parameters assessed, the SLGC-containing formulation was ranked better than the SLES- containing formulation.

Sensorial results obtained with a liquid soap formulation containing SLGC in comparison to the same formulation containing SLES.

Skin Compatibility

To assess the primary skin irritation of surfactants, a 24 h epicutaneous patch test was performed in which a 2% (w/w) dilution of either SLGC or SLES was applied to the back of twenty subjects under occlusive conditions. The degree and duration of the reactions erythema, scaling, edema and fissure caused by the surfactants were assessed by a specialist. Reactions were recorded 6, 24, 48 and 72 hours after patch removal. Figures 5 shows the irritation scores obtained for SLGC and SLES, in which a more than tenfold lower irritation score was obtained for SLGC. The lower irritation potential indicates that SLGC should be more suitable for mild formulation concepts.

The total irritation scores obtained for SLGC and SLES (2.0% w/w solutions) after a single application to the back of 20 subjects are depicted.