Ingredient
THEOBROMA CACAO LEAF CELL EXTRACT
Name of the plant
Chocolate Tree; Cocoa Tree; Cocoa
Used plant parts
Leaf cells
Type of preparation
Extract (solvent extract)
Function(s) of this ingredient in cosmetic products
FRAGRANCE
Enhances the smell of a product and / or perfumes the skin
SKIN PROTECTING
Protects the skin from external influences
Origin
plant
Occurrence in cosmetics
Stick products, eg lipcare sticks, body butter, soap bases, decorative cosmetics
Occurrence in other products
Foodstuffs, eg chocolate
Background information on use in cosmetics
The cocoa tree (theobroma cacao) is part of the genus theobroma in the mallow family (previously genus sterculia). It can only be cultivated under certain climatic conditions and requires good soils, enough water and only bears fruit between 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south of the equator. The countries in which the tree is excellently flourishing are, for instance, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon and others. The plant parts of the cocoa tree (theobroma cacao) used are, for instance, the peels, the fruits, the seeds or the leaves. Depending on the plant part or the extraction or processing methods (pressing, alcoholic, oily and aqueous extracts, drying and pulverisation of the peel), the different constituents of the plant are used for different purposes in cosmetics. Fragrances or mixtures of fragrances are often referred to in the cosmetics area as "perfuming agents" or "perfume oils" or "parfum oils". On the cosmetic products they are declared with the INCI name "PARFUM". These are undiluted individual substances or their mixtures which originate from natural raw materials or can be produced (semi-) synthetically. They are starting materials for the production of perfume, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne and other perfumed cosmetic products. The average content of fragrances amounts in perfume to 15-30 %, in eau de parfum to 10-14 %, in eau de toilette to 6-9 %, in eau de cologne to 3-5 % as well as in skin creams, shampoos, hair and deodorant sprays to approximately 0.2-1 % and approximately 1-3% in deodorant sticks. The perfume oils include essential oils, resinoids and absolutes. The sources are, amongst others, flowers, leaves and stems, fruits and fruit peels or roots of plants; woods, grasses or herbs, needles, resins and balsams. Moreover, compounds isolated from natural products such as aldehydes, ketones, esters, alcohols etc. are used (geraniol, citronellal, citral, eugenol, menthol). Semi-synthetic (citronellol, geranyl acetate, jonone) and synthetic scents (eg phenylethyl alcohol and linalool) are used too. Scents of animal origin such as musk and ambra are only rarely used.
Belongs to the following substance groups
Regulating cosmetics
Cosmetics Ingredients are subject to regulation. Please note, different regulations may apply to cosmetic ingredients outside the EU.