Vitamin C is common active ingredient in cosmetics as a depigmenting agent and in treatment of oily and acne-prone skin. It is mostly used in the form of ascorbic acid and its derivatives ascorbyl palmitate, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, ascorbyl glucoside, ethylated ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.
The main objective of this diploma thesis was to evaluate vitamin C and its derivatives in terms of content and stability determination in commercial cosmetic products. Therefore, 10 cosmetic products in various forms were purchased locally. Ascorbic acid and some derivatives ascorbyl phosphate and ascorbyl palmitate were either stated as ingredients or were quantitatively defined. These were evaluated by a previously developed high-performance liquid chromatography method, which was initially validated. Based on the products compositions, we developed and optimized proper extraction procedures, which were applied to determine the presence and content of vitamin C and its derivatives. The obtained results were compared to the label claims.
In nine of the ten tested products, the determined vitamin C forms were consistent with the ones listed on the packaging. In one product, ascorbic acid and ascorbyl palmitate, which were listed among the ingredients, were not detected. Vitamin C content was quantitatively defined in 7 tested products and was consistent with the experimentally determined content in all products.
Because of the known vitamin C instability, we evaluated its stability in the tested cosmetic products. The stability of ascorbic acid and ascorbyl phosphate was evaluated in selected products by long-term and accelerated stability tests within one month. At long-term stability test, only a small decrease in vitamin C content was detected in all tested products. The decrease was more pronounced at accelerated stability test. This confirmed that vitamin C is susceptible to degradation at elevated temperatures in products, which are not properly formulated or have no added ingredients that stabilize vitamin C.
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