Arbutin is one of the eight ingredients in the whitening section of Korea's official functional cosmetics codex, issued by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). It is the reason a Korean arbutin cream can be reviewed as a functional cosmetic that helps brighten the skin. The MFDS codex sets three numbers worth knowing: raw arbutin must assay at 98.0% or more, finished products must hold at least 90.0% of the labelled amount, and every finished arbutin product monograph includes a test that keeps hydroquinone at or below a 1 ppm standard.
The sources are two Korean legal texts and nothing else. The MFDS notice "Standards and Test Methods for Functional Cosmetics" (기능성화장품 기준 및 시험방법) is used in the edition of Notice No. 2025-89, amended 16 December 2025; its own general annex names it the Korean Functional Cosmetics Codex (KFCC). Claim wording comes from Article 2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Cosmetics Act. Both were read in the original Korean from the annex files of the notice, with a check date of 12 October 2026. Korean statutes and notices are not protected by copyright (Copyright Act, Article 7). This page names and ranks no products.
Where is arbutin in the Korean codex?
It is in Annex 2, 피부의 미백에 도움을 주는 기능성화장품 각조, "monographs for functional cosmetics that help whiten the skin". The eight raw ingredients in that annex are niacinamide, broussonetia extract, ascorbyl glucoside, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, arbutin, alpha-bisabolol, ethyl ascorbyl ether and oil soluble licorice extract.
The codex explains its own role in rule 1 of Annex 1: it defines when a company applying for functional cosmetic review does not need to submit its own standards and test methods. A monograph, then, is a set of tests the regulator has already written. It is not a permission slip for a percentage, and it is not a list of everything that may go into a cosmetic.
What does the arbutin monograph require?
These values are copied from the arbutin monograph. The English glosses are ours.
The figures that follow are as printed in the MFDS Korean Functional Cosmetics Codex (KFCC, MFDS Notice No. 2025-89).
| Item in the monograph | What the codex states |
|---|---|
| Chemical name in the codex | 4-hydroxyphenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside |
| Formula and weight | C12H16O7, 272.25 |
| Assay (raw ingredient) | 98.0% or more |
| Description | White to pale yellow powder with a slight characteristic odour |
| Ultraviolet check | Absorption maximum at 283 ± 2 nm |
| Melting point | 198-201 °C |
| Specific rotation | -63.5 to -65.5° |
| Heavy metals | 20 ppm or less |
| Arsenic | 2 ppm or less |
| Water | 0.5% or less |
| Residue on ignition | 0.5% or less |
The monograph also gives two identification tests besides the ultraviolet check: a blue-green colour with anthrone reagent, and an infrared spectrum with absorption bands near 3,384, 3,290, 1,514, 1,222 and 1,080 cm-1. The assay is by liquid chromatography.
Is alpha-arbutin the same thing in Korean law?
The codex monograph is titled simply arbutin, and the chemical name it prints is 4-hydroxyphenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside. The annex files read for this page contain no monograph titled alpha-arbutin. So the honest reading is narrow: the arbutin monograph describes the β form named in it, and this codex says nothing about alpha-arbutin. Whether alpha-arbutin can be used under other review routes is a question for other MFDS rules, which this page does not cover.
Why does every arbutin product have a hydroquinone test?
Annex 2 has four finished-product monographs for arbutin: lotion, solution, cream and soaked mask. Unlike niacinamide or ascorbyl glucoside, arbutin has no solid-form monograph.
Each of the four contains a hydroquinone purity test. The method compares the product against a hydroquinone standard solution prepared at the 1 ppm level, and the product's hydroquinone peak must not be larger than the standard's. The same test, with the same 1 ppm mark, appears in every combination product that contains arbutin in Annex 5.
As printed in the MFDS codex:
| Monograph | Content rule | Hydroquinone test |
|---|---|---|
| Arbutin lotion (Annex 2) | 90.0% or more of labelled arbutin | Not above the 1 ppm standard |
| Arbutin solution (Annex 2) | 90.0% or more of labelled arbutin | Not above the 1 ppm standard |
| Arbutin cream (Annex 2) | 90.0% or more of labelled arbutin | Not above the 1 ppm standard |
| Arbutin soaked mask (Annex 2) | 90.0% or more of labelled arbutin | Not above the 1 ppm standard, on the pressed-out liquid |
| Arbutin and retinol cream (Annex 5) | 90.0% or more of both | Not above the 1 ppm standard |
| Arbutin and adenosine lotion, solution, cream, soaked mask (Annex 5) | 90.0% or more of both | Not above the 1 ppm standard |
The codex does not explain why it chose this test, and this page will not guess at reasons. What the text does show is that the regulator treats hydroquinone as something to measure and cap in every arbutin product it has written a monograph for. For the soaked mask, the test runs on the liquid pressed out of the sheet.
The other lines in each dosage-form monograph follow the usual pattern: arbutin is the main (functional) ingredient; stabilisers, humectants, moisturisers, pH adjusters, colourants and fragrance may be added (emulsifiers too, except in the solution); and pH must be the product's standard value plus or minus 1.0, within 3.0 to 9.0.
Which claim may an arbutin product make?
Two whitening types in Article 2 of the Enforcement Rule apply to Annex 2 ingredients:
- Item 1: 피부에 멜라닌색소가 침착하는 것을 방지하여 기미ㆍ주근깨 등의 생성을 억제함으로써 피부의 미백에 도움을 주는 기능을 가진 화장품 — a cosmetic that *helps whiten the skin* by preventing melanin from depositing and so holding back spots and freckles.
- Item 2: 피부에 침착된 멜라닌색소의 색을 엷게 하여 피부의 미백에 도움을 주는 기능을 가진 화장품 — a cosmetic that *helps whiten the skin* by lightening melanin that has already deposited.
The key verb is "helps" (도움을 주는). It is the ceiling of the claim, not a polite translation. Promises to remove pigmentation, cure melasma or treat a skin condition are drug language and sit outside cosmetic law.
Arbutin label checklist
- Look for the functional cosmetic marking with a whitening type
- Expect a lotion, solution, cream or soaked mask for a single-ingredient arbutin product
- Know that each of those monographs carries a 1 ppm hydroquinone test
- Do not assume alpha-arbutin is covered by this monograph
- Treat "helps whiten" as the legal limit of the wording
How to check an arbutin claim
- Find the functional type named on the pack.
- Confirm arbutin is listed as the functional ingredient.
- Open MFDS Notice 2025-89 and read the arbutin monograph in Annex 2.
- For a brightening-plus-wrinkle claim, look up arbutin with adenosine or retinol in Annex 5.
- Compare the label wording with Article 2, items 1 and 2, of the Enforcement Rule.
How much arbutin a product may contain. The codex gives no use level; that sits in other MFDS rules not read here.
Every codex ingredient, grouped by type, is in our K-beauty functional ingredient index.
Sources and how to check
- 기능성화장품 기준 및 시험방법 (Standards and Test Methods for Functional Cosmetics, KFCC), MFDS Notice No. 2025-89, amended 16 December 2025: Annex 1 (general rules), Annex 2 (whitening monographs), Annex 5 (whitening and wrinkle combinations). Korean Law Information Center: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/admRulInfoP.do?admRulSeq=2100000269816&chrClsCd=010201
- 화장품법 시행규칙 제2조 (Enforcement Rule of the Cosmetics Act, Article 2), items 1 and 2 quoted above: https://www.law.go.kr/법령/화장품법%20시행규칙/제2조
- Checked as of 12 October 2026, against the annex files of the notice. Licence: unprotected works under Copyright Act Article 7.
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Calculate Now →Questions readers ask about Arbutin in Korean Skincare
Is arbutin an approved whitening ingredient in Korea?
It has a monograph in Annex 2 of the MFDS functional cosmetics codex (Notice No. 2025-89), the section for cosmetics that help whiten the skin, alongside seven other ingredients.
What purity does the Korean codex require for arbutin?
98.0% or more for the raw ingredient. Finished arbutin lotions, solutions, creams and soaked masks must contain at least 90.0% of the labelled amount.
Why is there a hydroquinone test for arbutin products?
Every finished arbutin monograph in the codex requires the hydroquinone peak to be no larger than a 1 ppm standard. The codex does not state its reasons, so this page does not guess.
Does the Korean monograph cover alpha-arbutin?
The monograph is titled arbutin and names 4-hydroxyphenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside. The annexes read here have no alpha-arbutin monograph.
What claim can a Korean arbutin product make?
Enforcement Rule Article 2 items 1-2: helping whiten the skin, either by preventing melanin deposit or by lightening deposited melanin. Treatment wording is outside cosmetic law.