Zinc L-carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidinato zinc[1]) (N-(3-aminopropionyl)-L-histidinato zinc[2]), often simply called zinc carnosine, and also known as polaprezinc,[3] is a mucosal protective[4][5] chelate compound of zinc and L-carnosine invented by Hamari Chemicals, Ltd.[6][7] It is a quadridentate 1:1 complex of a polymeric nature.[6] Although it contains 23% zinc and 77% L-carnosine by mass,[8] zinc carnosine is a molecule and not a mixture of zinc and L-carnosine.