A Revolutionary E. coli Killing Natural Plant-Based Preservative

Healthy, plant-based preservatives are changing the product formulation market rapidly.

6 min readNov 14, 2019

Formulating products using high quality, natural, synthetic-free standards that promotes optimal health is an area I’ve spent over ten years of my life cultivating. I use the premise of “optimal health” for every single ingredient I source. This is why I reject so many commonly used ingredients that are “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the government. “Safe” and “Optimal” are not the same at all.

Using this high standard makes business growth much harder, but it’s a calculated risk I take for a healthier future. I would rather retain my principles than compromise my standards for some fast cash.

And one of the biggest issues I have had when sourcing ingredients was finding a natural preservative that doesn’t just compete with synthetics, but can also promote optimal health at the same time. This was not an easy find over the years.

When I first started formulating my most successful product I’ve ever made, Spekr CBD Pain Relief Lotion, I knew finding the right preservative was key. The research and development phase of formulating this product took about two years to finalize. And it wasn’t until the last minute that we found and added this natural ingredient blend into the product.

Making a topical is pretty easy. A specific ratio of oil to water with an emulsifier to bind the compounds together is how you make a starting topical base. But it’s no easy task to create a highly efficient pain relief topical in a market already heavily saturated by companies claiming they have the best product. In reality, these products are mostly the same white labeled, anti-nutrient dense formulations, with slight deviations from brand to brand.

This is where the unique qualities of this product formulation comes in.

When I first heard of this preservative, I couldn’t believe the claims that were being made. They claimed broad-spectrum effectiveness against bacteria and fungi, specifically yeast and mold. Most natural antimicrobial preservatives cannot accomplish this at a high level.

A plant-based, natural preservative that works just as well as the synthetics?!

It’s called Leucidal SF Complete, from Active Micro Technologies. This is a blend of Lactobacillus Ferment & Lactobacillus & Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract.

Leucidal SF Complete is made by blending two of their other products together using the antibacterial power of Leucidal SF and the antifungal power of AMTicide Coconut to deliver a highly effective solution.

At first I thought this was too good to be true. But luckily, Active Micro Technologies provides detailed explanations and comparison testing for their products.

How is this product made?

Lactobacillus is an antimicrobial peptide originally derived from lactic acid bacteria. This preservative is a probiotic-based ingredient created by the fermentation of Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus is like a micro-organism and if you visit your local grocery store, you’ll see it’s one of the main things in probiotics. This preservative is basically fermented good bacteria that helps restrict the growth of bad bacteria because its pH is so low.

By acidifying its environment via an extremely low pH, Lactobacillus is capable of restricting the growth of other harmful compounds. Lactobacillus also produces antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins that are capable of providing effective protection against bacteria. The process adds lysozyme, an enzyme that catalyzes the destruction of the cell walls of certain bacteria, to the ferment filtrate to facilitate controlled cell lysis. This ensures the release of antimicrobial peptides for optimal efficiency.

Next is the fermentation of coconut fruit extract with lactobacillus. During this fermentation process, lipopeptides are catabolized by the naturally occurring medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) in coconut flesh. About 50% of the total fatty acid content of coconut oil is made up of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) [1]. This makes coconut a rare high saturated fat plant.

MCTs, which are derived from a coconut fruit extract in this case, have many health benefits. Like the lactobacillus, research also shows MCT oil contains powerful fatty acids that fight yeast and bacterial growth [2]. Among its many benefits, it can easily absorb and digest as an energy source, has the ability to destroy the cellular structures of fungus, protects kidney, heart, and liver functions, and has anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, and anti-oxidant effects [3] [4] [5]. Most importantly, it is a highly absorbent and moisturizing extract, which means it can quickly get to the skin [6]. Research proves coconut oil and coconut MCT extracts are ingredients with many health applications [7].

Research by Active Micro Technologies on Leucidal SF Complete showed the following:

“A skin moisturization study was performed using an untreated control, generic cream base, and an experimental with the same cream base containing 2.0% Leucidal® SF Complete. Comparative moisturization results from this study reveal that the addition of 2.0% of Leucidal® SF Complete improved moisture levels by 42.42% after 24 hours and by 63.00% after four weeks when compared to the untreated control. When compared to the base cream Leucidal® SF Complete improved moisturization by 14.38% and after 24 hours and by 25.00% after four weeks. Based on these results, adding this innovative product provides the formulator the opportunity to capitalize on both the natural antimicrobial properties of Leucidal® SF Complete, as well as its ability to provide potent moisturizing benefits to the cosmetic formulation. These properties make it ideal for applications addressing numerous skin and scalp conditions…
…The positive Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) screening results warranted further testing to confirm its ability to provide product preservation. A Double Challenge Test was completed using 2.0% Leucidal® SF Complete in a generic cream base formulation. Samples were inoculated with E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, C. albicans, and A. brasiliensis. During the first 28-day incubation period, samples were periodically collected and tested for the presence of these microorganisms. Following this initial 28 days of incubation, the cream samples were then re-inoculated with the microbial cultures and sampled over an additional 28-day period.”

Key Benefits of Leucidal SF Complete:

Water soluble
Naturally derived
Heat stable to 70°C (158°F)
Anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-mold activity
Compatible with a wide range of cosmetic ingredients
Very mild, with low to no irritation potential
Active under both acidic (pH3) and basic (pH8) conditions
Non-GMO
Vegan compliant
No animal testing
On the Whole Foods acceptable premium preservative list
No ethoxylation
No irradiation
No sulphonation
No ethylene oxide treatment
No hydrogenation

I predict this style of powerful, non-toxic preservatives will be heavily used in product formulations in the future. I’ve been successfully using Leucidal SF Complete in the Spekr CBD Pain Relief Lotion for over two years now. It has proven to work just as well as the company claimed it would.