| abstract |
An N-acylamino acid compound represented by the general formula (1): R-CO-(NH-X-CO)n-OR1(1) wherein (NH-X-CO) is an amino acid residue, X in (NX-X-CO) is variable with the kind of amino acid to be used, R-CO is a saturated or an unsaturated fatty acid residue having 6 to 24 carbon atoms, R1 is hydrogen atom, sodium atom, potassium atom, or methyl group and n is an integer in the range of from 1 to 3, indicating that at least one histidine is contained as a component amino acid is disclosed, which is obtained by causing an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester to react with an amino acid or a peptide. The compound excels in antioxidizing power, emulsifying power, antibacterial power, chelating power, infrared absorbing power, and humidity-retaining power. |