Saccharide Hydrolysate

Saccharide hydrolysate is a sugar that exhibits humectant properties when applied to skin. Humectants attract and bind moisture to skin and then go on to assist in evenly distributing this moisture. This process helps visibly plump and smooth.

Saccharide hydrolysate is formed through the hydrolysis of sucrose, with the resulting skin care ingredient containing mostly glucose and fructose. Hydrolyzing skin care ingredients is the process of breaking down an ingredient into smaller parts, most often with an enzyme or acid.

This humectant is most often found in rinse-off skin care products, like cleansers, in percentages between 0.002% and 4.6%. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel reviewed saccharide hydrolysate and concluded it’s safe for use in cosmetics at current concentrations.