Astragalus Gummifer Gum
What Is It?
Astragalus Gummifer GumSticky, polysaccharide substances exuded by plants that are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying., also called Tragacanth Gum, occurs as a white to yellow-brown gum. In cosmetics and personal care products, Astragalus Gummifer Gum is used in dentrifices, hair products, tonics and dressings
Why Is It Used?
Astragalus Gummifer Gum unites or bonds surfaces together, holds together the ingredients of a compressed tablet or cake, helps to keep an emulsionA mixture of two liquids that normally cannot be mixed, in which one liquid is dispersed in the other liquid as very fine droplets. Emulsifying agents are often used to help form the emulsion and stabilizing agents are used to keep the resulting emulsion from separating. The most common emulsions are oil-in-water emulsions (where oil droplets are dispersed in water) and water-in-oil emulsions (where water droplets are dispersed in oil). from separating into its oil and liquid components, and increases the thickness of the aqueous (water) portion of cosmetics and personal care products.
Scientific Facts
Astragalus Gummifer Gum is a dried resinous exudate obtained from Astragalus gummifer trees located in southwestern Europe, Greece, Turkey and Iran.
Safety Information
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the safety of Astragalus Gummifer Gum and has listed this ingredient as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS“GRAS” is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. Under sections 201(s) and 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), any substance that is intentionally added to food is a food additive, that is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, or unless the use of the substance is otherwise excluded from the definition of a food additive.) for direct food use. The safety of Astragalus Gummifer Gum has been assessed by the Cosmetic Ingredient ReviewThe Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) was established in 1976 as an independent safety review program for cosmetic ingredients. The CIR Expert Panel consists of independent experts in dermatology, toxicology, pharmacolgy and veterinary medicine. The CIR includes participation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America. (CIR) Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel evaluated scientific data and based on the available information, concluded that Astragalus Gummifer Gum was safe as a cosmetic ingredient. Botanical and botanically derived ingredients used in the formulation of cosmetics are generally mild and safe.
Prior to marketing the finished cosmetic product, the safety of each ingredient must be substantiated in accordance with 21 CFR 740.10. Safety substantiation of cosmetic ingredients may include tests for ocular and skin irritation as well as allergenicity, phototoxicity, photoallergenicity and mutagenicity, depending on the application or intended use. There is a considerable body of information about the safety of botanical ingredients and a well established history of use. These resources are consulted to ensure the safety of these materials as they are used in cosmetics.
CIR Safety Review: On the basis of the available information, the CIR Expert Panel concluded that cosmetics and personal care products containing up to 1.5% Astragalus Gummifer Gum were essentially nonirritating and nonsensitizing when evaluated in humans. Astragalus Gummifer Gum at a concentration of 10% did not induce a contact dermal phototoxic response when tested in humans.
It was concluded that Astragalus Gummifer Gum was safe as a cosmetic and personal care product ingredient. In selecting plant-derived ingredients for preparation of cosmetic products, formulators rely on the extensive history of their preparation and use. Such materials have been used for a long time and, based upon this experience; extensive knowledge of their safety has been gained. In the situation of newly identified botanicals in the cosmetic industry, appropriate ocular and skin safety studies are conducted prior to release into general commerce. There are many different references that describe the isolation, use and safety of botanical preparations.
More information about botanical ingredients.
Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Astragalus Gummifer Gum
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr…
Astragalus Gummifer Gum may be used in cosmetics and personal care products marketed in the Europe according to the general provisions of the Cosmetics Regulation of the European UnionUnder the general provisions of the cosmetics regulation of the EU, ingredients appearing on the following function-specific annexes must comply with the listed restrictions and/or specifications: colorants (Annex IV), preservatives (Annex V), UV filters (Annex VI) and other ingredients with specific concentration limits and/or other restrictions (Annex III). Ingredients specifically prohibited from use in cosmetic products are listed in Annex II. Other ingredients listed in the EU cosmetic ingredient database (CosIng) may be used without restrictions..
Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_p…
More Scientific Information
Astragalus Gummifer Gum is a complex polysaccharideA large group of natural complex carbohydrates with the general formula (C6H10O5)n where ‘n’ is a large number. Polysaccarides are easily hydrolyzed into simple sugars. composed of D-galacturonic acid, D-galactose, D-xylose, and L-arabinose. Polysaccharides are sugar-related molecules. In cosmetics and personal care products, Astragalus Gummifer Gum functions as a viscosity increasing agent (aqueous). In naming plants, botanists use a Latin name made up of the genus and species of the plant. For example, under this system the plant, tragacanth is known as Astragalus gummifer Labill., where “Labill.” stands for the name of the person who first described the type of plant specimen. Plants are also known by a common name that has been handed down through generations. These common names may vary from country to country.
Therefore, Latin names, which are more likely to be recognized in many countries, are frequently used on the label of a product to identify an ingredient made from plants.
Resources
Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration
Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm
Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/defaul…
Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm
Cross Reference for Common Names and Latin names for Botanical ingredient: http://www.personalcarecouncil.org/botanicals-cross-reference-latin-bino…
Find out more about the history of using plants to obtain beneficial materials:
- Duke University: Brief History of Beauty and Hygiene Products http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/cosmetics-history.html
- National Library of Medicine: Beauty and the body: the origins of cosmetics http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&lis…
- University of Maryland “Herbs by Name” http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsLookups/Herbs.html
Search the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm
EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/