glycolic acid

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A colorless crystalline compound, C₂H₄O₃, that is found in sugar beets, sugar cane, and unripe grapes and is used in tanning, in metal polishing and electroplating, and in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, adhesives, and plasticizers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun chemistry the simplest alpha-hydroxy acid, hydroxy-acetic acid, found in sugar cane and unripe grapes; used in cosmetics etc

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a translucent crystalline compound found in sugar cane and sugar beets and unripe grapes