A cleanser line that only says “amino surfactant” or “SCG” is not a sample request. Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate is one INCI: the monosodium salt of cocoyl glutamic acid, CAS 68187-32-6, sold here as a white to off-white powder or flakes at 95% or higher, or as a colorless to pale yellow liquid at 25–30%.
It is not Cocamidopropyl Betaine. It is not Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate. It is not Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, even when both pages shorten the name to SCG. It is not Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate. Those four misses are how a mild-cleanser PO gets quoted on the wrong salt.
What the INCI is locking
CosIng-style entries list Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate as L-glutamic acid, N-coco acyl derivatives, monosodium salts, with functions cleansing and surfactant. The CIR amino-acid alkyl amide assessment describes it the same way: the sodium salt of the amide from coconut acid chloride and glutamic acid, CAS 68187-32-6, functioning as a cleansing surfactant. “Coco” here is a cut of coconut fatty chains, not a single fatty acid and not a fixed molecular weight you can copy off a glutamate-head formula.
The charge matters on the batch record. Searches that ask whether sodium cocoyl glutamate is anionic are asking the class. This grade is anionic. An amphoteric betaine can sit beside it. It does not replace it, and a cationic polymer that is stable with the betaine still needs a compatibility check with this anion. The product page flags that check for highly alkaline systems and for some cationic polymers.
Write the INCI you will print. Ask the COA to show Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, not a blend that also lists the disodium salt. Some commercial “cocoyl glutamate” liquids publish both salts on one INCI line. That blend is a different purchase.
Where the surfactant comes from
People ask what it is made from, where it comes from, and how it is made. The public process description is a factory amide: glutamic acid acylated with a coconut fatty-acid chloride, then converted to the sodium salt. CIR supplier notes trace the glutamic acid to glucose or molasses fermentation, or to wheat, and the fatty chloride to coconut acid. That is a raw-material origin for the manufacturer. It is not a kitchen method, and this page does not give charges, temperatures, or a make-it-yourself route.
A buyer of the finished surfactant locks the INCI and the assay. The coconut story does not, by itself, tell you whether the drum is the 95% powder or the 25–30% liquid.
Powder or liquid changes the percent
The same INCI is offered here in two forms.
| Form | What this grade states | What the percent means |
|---|---|---|
| Powder or flakes | White to off-white, assay 95% or higher | Nearly neat solids. A formula percent is close to active surfactant. |
| Liquid | Colorless to pale yellow, 25–30% | Most of the drum is water. Ten percent of this liquid in a kettle is not ten percent active. |
Do not copy a use level from a powder TDS onto the liquid, or the reverse, until the sheet says whether the number is as-supplied or as active matter. The product page lists 5.0–25.0% as a primary surfactant and 1.0–5.0% as a secondary surfactant for mildness. Treat those bands as the starting window for this grade, then confirm on the TDS which form they describe. A 30% liquid and a 95% powder cannot share one weighing factor.
Other suppliers sell aqueous solutions in a different assay band. CIR recorded one producer’s sodium cocoyl glutamate solution around 32.6–38%, sometimes with propylene glycol and sodium chloride. That description is not this product page. Match the COA in front of you.
Where it sits in a wash
Searches for sodium cocoyl glutamate in shampoo, in skin care, and in cosmetics are placement questions. The inventory function is cleansing. On this grade the intended chassis is a sulfate-free wash: facial cleansers, shampoo, body wash, makeup-remover bases, and mild hygiene washes. The foam described on the product page is dense and lotion-like, not a claim that every finished bottle will feel the same.
Toothpaste queries are a different decision. They ask what a finished oral-care label does on teeth. They do not change the assay, the CAS, or the wash-off use window of this raw material. If the brief is a dentifrice, say so on the inquiry and ask which documentation the factory can attach. Do not convert a toothpaste article’s dose into the surfactant specification.
“Is it safe” is also not a new INCI. The CIR panel’s conclusion on this family is that amino-acid alkyl amides are safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be non-irritating. The report cites human dermal tests of sodium cocoyl glutamate up to 10% that were not irritating, and a sensitization test at 5% active that was non-sensitizing. The same file records a HET-CAM result at 5% scored as strong or severe eye irritation. Mildness is a finished-formula outcome. It is not a reason to skip the irritation check, and it is not a license to call the neat surfactant tear-free.
How the grade goes into water
The product page lists the material as water-soluble, stable from about pH 4.5 to 8.5, with the clearest foam and the best clarity in a weakly acid wash, about pH 5.0–6.5. It can enter the water phase with gentle stirring. That window is a process note for this grade. Confirm it on the TDS of the lot you buy before you lock a plant pH.
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate is the nearby amino surfactant that gets the same three letters. Its page lists a different CAS, 90387-74-9, a glycine amide rather than a glutamate amide, and a clarity window that prefers roughly pH 6.5–9.0. Swapping the amino acid moves both the INCI and the pH at which the wash stays clear. If the brief only says SCG, ask which amino acid and which CAS.
What does not fill this PO
Four names show up on the same mild-cleanser thread.
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate is the disodium salt, CAS 68187-30-4, a separate INCI with the same cleansing function. FDA’s UNII record for that disodium name lists brand lines such as Plantapon ACG LC. A brief that says Plantapon, or that prints both salts, is not automatically this monosodium powder. This site has no page for the disodium salt. Do not invent a URL. Write the salt you actually need.
Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate is the C12 glutamate, CAS 29923-31-7. It is the same amino-acid family and a similar powder-or-liquid offer, but the fatty cut is lauroyl, not the broader coco cut. A “glutamate surfactant” line still has to name which one.
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate is the flake people reach for when the brief says SCI or a syndet bar. That split is Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate vs Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is the amphoteric foam booster. That split is Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate vs Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Split.
Pairing without collapsing the SKUs
The product page points to two neighbors, not substitutes. Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate is the other amino anion when you want to tune foam and after-feel. Cocamidopropyl Betaine is the amphoteric partner for foam density and salt response. Quote them as separate lines, each with its own COA. One “mild surfactant” SKU in the warehouse will ship the wrong CAS.
What to send before the first sample ships
Put these lines in the message:
- INCI Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, not Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate and not Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate
- CAS 68187-32-6 when the pack requires a CAS line
- Form: powder or flakes at 95% or higher, or liquid at 25–30%, and whether your formula percent is as-supplied or active
- Target wash pH, if you need the 5.0–6.5 clarity window confirmed for your chassis
- Bench-sample size, plus COA, SDS, and TDS with the shipment
- Any second surfactant by its own INCI, if the brief also names glycinate, betaine, or isethionate
Batch documents and a sample are on the product page. Match the sample COA to the salt and the assay you wrote, then scale. A line that names the monosodium grade and the form usually comes back with documents. A line that says only SCG usually comes back as a question.
