Lauric Arginate is the term that has been accepted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for labelling purposes of Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl. Other names commonly used to refer to this substance are LAE® and Lauroyl arginine ethyl ester HCl.
Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl is a synthetically produced cationic substance manufactured in LAMIRSA GROUP premises, according to processes patented by the company. The main particularity of Ethyl lauroyl arginate is that its building blocks are naturally occurring substances: L-arginine, ethanol and lauric acid. Once Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl is ingested by consumers, it is easily hydrolysed within a few minutes in the human body into natural compounds commonly found in the diet. This property is not shared by the other food preservatives currently found in the marketplace such as sorbates, benzoates, sulphites, nitrites and nitrates.
Effective against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, yeasts and moulds
Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl is effective as a preservative against bacteria, yeast and moulds in a wide range of food and cosmetic products because it is able to disrupt the integrity of the cell membranes of these microorganisms (J. Appl. Microbiol., 2004, 96 (5) 903-912). Efficacy shown through out MIC’s (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) is high. For instance, against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria MIC’s are between 8 and 64 μg/ml as an average, and against yeast and mould are between 16 and 128 μg/ml. In spite of those MIC values, the doses of application of LAE® in the final food and cosmetic products are usually higher. This is due to the differences in composition, conditions and requirements that those products have compared to the one of an in vitro test.
Investigations have proved that Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl causes the inactivation or neutralisation of the endotoxins released by Gram negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, which might mitigate the damage caused by endotoxins in animals and human beings.
Safe and effective products for the treatment of viral infections are constantly needed. In this sense, VEDEQSA commissioned several investigations to study the efficacy of Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl against certain viruses. The results of these investigations proved a strong antiviral activity against viruses of Vaccinia, Herpes simplex and bovine parainfluenzae virus types.
VEDEQSA highlights the fact that Ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl has applications in cosmetics as an active ingredient as well as a preservative.
The following tables show the MIC’s values of LAE® against different types of microorganisms, also pathogens, which gives an insight into LAE® wide range of activity and great effectiveness. The results were obtained by Dr. Manresa, from the Facultat de Farmàcia of Universitat de Barcelona:
GRAM POSITIVE BACTERIA |
LAE® (µg/ml) |
Alicyclobacillus acidiphilus DSMZ 14558 |
8 |
Arthrobacter oxydans ATCC 8010 |
64 |
Bacillus cereus var mycoide ATCC 11778 |
32 |
Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 |
16 |
Clostridium botulinum ATCC 19397 |
64 |
Clostridium estertheticum ATCC 51377 |
32 |
Clostridium perfringens ATCC 77454 |
16 |
Clostridium perfringens ATCC 12917 |
16 |
Lactobacillus curvatus ATCC 25601 |
16 |
Lactobacillus delbrueckkii ssp lactis ATCC 10705 |
16 |
Lactobacillus paracasei ATCC 25302 |
16 |
Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 |
16 |
Listeria monocytogenes B4/97 [1] |
8 |
Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313 |
32 |
Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC 19255 |
32 |
Microccocus luteus ATCC 9631 |
128 |
Mycobacterium phlei ATCC 41423 |
2 |
Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 |
8 |
GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERIA |
LAE® (µg/ml) |
Alcaligenes faecalis ATCC 8750 |
64 |
Bordetella bronchiseptica ATCC 4617 |
128 |
Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 29428 |
8 |
Citrobacter freundii ATCC 22636 |
64 |
Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC 13048 |
32 |
Enterobacter faecalis ATCC 27285 |
4 |
Enterobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544 |
32 |
Escherichia coli 0157H7 ATCC 35150 |
32 |
Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 |
32 |
Klebsiella pneumoniae var pneumoniae ATCC 4352 |
32 |
Proteus mirabilis CECT 170 |
32 |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 |
32 |
Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 13430 |
32 |
Salmonella choleraesuis ATCC 13076 |
8 |
Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028 |
32 |
Shigella dysentariae ATCC 13313 |
8 |
Serratia marcescens ATCC 10759 |
32 |
Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 27729 |
16 |
Vibrio parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802 |
128 |
YEASTS |
LAE® (µg/ml) |
Candida albicans ATCC 10231 |
16 |
Rhodotorula rubra CECT 1158 |
16 |
Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 9763 |
32 |
MOULDS |
LAE® (µg/ml) |
Aspergillus niger ATCC 14604 |
32 |
Aureobasidium pullulans ATCC 9348 |
16 |
Glicocladium virens ATCC 4645 |
32 |
Chaetomium globosum ATCC 6205 |
16 |
Penicillium chrysogenum ATCC 9480 |
128 |
Penicillium funiculosum CECT 2914 |
16 |
[1] Isolated from polluted meat by Microbiology Unit, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona.