8015-86-9

solid

Odorless yellow to dark brown-green solid. Floats on water.

Insoluble in water.

Carnauba wax react with acids to liberate heat. Heat is also generated by interaction with caustic solutions. Strong oxidizing acids may cause a vigorous reaction that is sufficiently exothermic to ignite the reaction products. Flammable hydrogen is generated by mixing with alkali metals and hydrides.

Hot wax can burn skin and eyes.

The wax derived from Copernicia cerifera, Prunae.

Carnauba wax is obtained from the leaf buds and leaves of the Brazilian carnauba palm, Copernicia cerifera. The leaves are dried and shredded, and the wax is then removed by the addition of hot water.

Carnauba wax is widely used in cosmetics, certain foods, and pharmaceutical formulations. Cosmetically, carnauba wax is commonly used in lip balms.
Carnauba wax is the hardest and highest-melting of the waxes commonly used in pharmaceutical formulations and is used primarily as a 10% w/v aqueous emulsion to polish sugar-coated tablets. Aqueous emulsions may be prepared by mixing carnauba wax with an ethanolamine compound and oleic acid. The carnauba wax coating produces tablets of good luster without rubbing. Carnauba wax may also be used in powder form to polish sugarcoated tablets.
Carnauba wax (10–50% w/w) is also used alone or with other excipients such as hypromellose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, alginate/ pectin-gelatin, Eudragit, and stearyl alcohol to produce sustainedrelease solid-dosage formulations.
Carnauba wax has been experimentally investigated for use in producing microparticles in a novel hot air coating (HAC) process developed as an alternative to conventional spray-congealing techniques.(11) In addition, carnauba wax has been used to produce gel beads for intragastric floating drug delivery and has been investigated for use in nanoparticulate sunscreen formulations.

Carnauba wax is widely used in oral pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics, and certain food products. It is generally regarded as an essentially nontoxic and nonirritant material. However, there have been reports of allergic contact dermatitis from carnauba wax in mascara.
The WHO has established an acceptable daily intake of up to 7 mg/kg body-weight for carnauba wax.

Carnauba wax is stable and should be stored in a well-closed container, in a cool, dry place.

GRAS listed. Accepted for use as a food additive in Europe. Included in the FDA Inactive Ingredients Database (oral capsules and tablets). Included in nonparenteral medicines licensed in the UK. Included in the Canadian List of Acceptable Non-medicinal Ingredients.