Ascorbyl Glucoside

What is ascorbyl glucoside?

Ascorbyl glucoside is a derivative of vitamin C that is used in cosmetic applications because it is simple and cheap to synthesise, stable, and easily absorbed (R).

Animals such as guinea pigs and rats produce ascorbyl glucoside when fed ascorbic acid and maltose in combination (R, R, R). Rice seeds and the bacterium Bacillus stearothermophilus have also been shown to synthesise ascorbyl glucoside from ascorbic acid (R, R, R). Kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented cabbage, contains ascorbyl glucoside as well (R).

Is ascorbyl glucoside stable?

Ascorbyl glucoside is stable in water under aerobic, oxidative and acidic conditions, as well as resistant to degradation by heat, copper (II) ions and ascorbate oxidase (R, R). Overall, its stability is optimal at a temperature of 55.3°C and at a pH of 6.4 (R).

Does ascorbyl glucoside get absorbed?

Ascorbyl glucoside has been shown to be percutaneously absorbed into human skin (R). Its transdermal delivery can be enhanced by pretreating the skin with lasers. For instance, an erbium:YAG laser that partly ablated the stratum corneum layer of mouse skin increased the flux of ascorbyl glucoside by 35 to 78-fold, and a carbon dioxide laser increased the flux by 82 to 117-fold, possibly via both ablation of the stratum corneum and a thermal effect (R). Similarly, treatment of pig skin with a fractional carbon dioxide laser enhanced the skin permeation of ascorbyl glucoside, but with less skin disruption than a conventional carbon dioxide laser (R).

Sodium dilauramidoglutamide lysine, a peptide-based gemini surfactant, can also enhance the penetration and accumulation of ascorbyl glucoside in the skin (15).

What happens after ascorbyl glucoside is absorbed?

Ascorbyl glucoside releases ascorbic acid after its absorption by the skin, and does so over a longer period of time than ascorbyl phosphate, another vitamin C derivative. This may be due to the metabolism of ascorbyl glucoside to ascorbic acid being sustained over a longer period of time, which may in turn be because the activity of α-glucosidase, which hydrolyses ascorbyl glucoside in the human body, is lower than that of alkaline phosphatase, which hydrolyses ascorbyl phosphate (R).