Le
Levulinic Acid
Levulinic Acid
A plant-sugar acid that fine-tunes a formula’s pH and helps keep it fresh.
What it does
A small acid usually made from plant sugars. It fine-tunes a product’s pH and, paired with sodium levulinate, helps keep germs from growing as part of a natural-style preservative.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a skin conditioner, its general term for an ingredient that keeps skin in good condition.European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
expert consensusUS safety reviewers (2025) assessed levulinic acid and its salt, sodium levulinate, which are reported to condition skin; levulinic acid is also used as a fragrance ingredient. They judged both safe as used, in products made not to irritate.Raj 2025 · International Journal of Toxicology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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