What is described herein is a stable and reduced-yellowing/non-yellowing synergistic preservative composition comprising: (i) about 0.1 wt. % to about 40 wt. % of dehydroacetic acid (DHA) and about 0.1 wt. % to about 99.9 wt. % of at least one aprotic solvent. Also described herein are aqueous and non-aqueous based preservative compositions for various end-user applications, and processes for preparing and using such compositions to reduce yellowing of DHA when added to the end-user applications.