Les cires végétales : sources et applications

CIRAD, UMR IATE, Montpellier, F-34398 France

^* jerome.lecomte@cirad.fr

Abstract

Waxes are mixture of long-chain apolar lipids of mineral, synthetic or natural (produced by living organisms) origin. In the plant kingdom, waxes that cover the different parts of the plant play the role of a physical and/or chemical barrier towards the outside thus allowing to control mass transfers and pest attacks. They can have also a storage function as in the Jojoba seeds. Because of their highly variable composition and physical properties, plant waxes (raw, refined or specific fractions) have found numerous applications in the food, cosmetic, candle, coating, polish, polymer and pharmaceutical industries. However, only few of them are currently available at large scale (Candellila, Carnauba, Jojoba) and they represent no more than a few percents of the global waxes market largely dominated by synthetic and petroleum-based products (97%). In the future, the increase needs for renewable and vegetable-based materials will help to drive the market growth for vegetable waxes and especially those based on vegetable oils (saturated fatty alcohols from fully hydrogenated soybean and castor oils) which have gained importance during the last decade.