Wax




 

Wax has traditionally referred to a substance that is secreted by bees (beeswax) and used by them in constructing their honeycombs.

It is an imprecisely defined term generally understood to be a substance with properties similar to beeswax, namely

Waxes may be natural or artificial. In addition to Earwax is an oily substance found in the human ear. Some artificial materials that exhibit similar properties are also described as wax or waxy.  

Chemically, a wax may be an lipid.

Wax types

Animal waxes

  • Beeswax - produced by honey bees
  • Chinese wax - produced by scale insects Coccus ceriferus
  • Shellac wax - from the lac insect Coccus lacca
  • Spermaceti - from the head cavities and blubber of the sperm whale
  • Lanolin (wool wax) - from the sebaceous glands of sheep

Vegetable waxes

  • Bayberry wax - from the surface of the berries of the bayberry shrub, Myrica faya
  • Candelilla wax - from the Mexican shrubs Euphorbia cerifera and E. antisyphilitica
  • Carnauba wax - from the leaves of the Carnauba palm, Copernica cerifera
  • castor oil
  • Esparto wax - a byproduct of making paper from esparto grass, (Macrochloa tenacissima)
  • triglyceride (not a true wax), from the berries of Rhus and Toxicodendron species
  • jojoba bush, Simmondsia chinensis
  • Ouricury wax - from the Brazilian Feather palm, Syagrus coronata.
  • Rice bran wax - obtained from rice bran (Oryza sativa)
  • Soy wax - from soybean oil.

Mineral waxes

Petroleum waxes

  • Paraffin wax - made of long-chain hydrocarbons
  • Microcrystalline wax - with very fine crystalline structure

Synthetic waxes

  • Polyethylene waxes - based on polyethylene
  • Fischer-Tropsch waxes
  • Chemically modified waxes - usually saponified
  • substituted amide waxes
  • polymerized α-olefins
v • d • e
E numbers

pH regulators & anti-caking agents (E500–599) • Flavour enhancers (E600–699) • Miscellaneous (E900–999) • Additional chemicals (E1100–1599)

Waxes (E900–909) • Synthetic glazes (E910–919) • Improving agents (E920–929) • Packaging gases (E930–949) • Sweeteners (E950–969) • Foaming agents (E990–999)

Rice bran wax (E908)

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Wax". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.