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Physico‐chemical parameters for the characterization of pure beeswax and detection of adulterations
Author(s) -
Bernal José Luis,
Jiménez Juan José,
del Nozal María Jesús,
Toribio Laura,
Martín María Teresa
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
european journal of lipid science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1438-9312
pISSN - 1438-7697
DOI - 10.1002/ejlt.200401105
Subject(s) - beeswax , wax , saponification , saponification value , iodine value , stearic acid , tallow , acid value , chemistry , carnauba wax , chromatography , food science , organic chemistry , biochemistry
Pure beeswaxes produced in different climatic regions of Spain have been characterized by the determination of nine physico‐chemical parameters: density, acid, saponification, ester, ratio number, iodine, peroxide, melting point and ash content values. The official methods of analysis to determine density and saponification values in fats and oils were not suitable for beeswaxes; alternative methods are proposed in this work for both parameters. After verifying the precision of the methods and the value guidelines, the usefulness of the physico‐chemical parameters to detect adulterations with paraffin, stearic acid, carnauba wax and tallow was tested: adulteration percentages of 5%, or higher, were commonly detected. Marketed foundation beeswax sheets, rejected or badly accepted by the bees, were also analyzed to discuss their quality; 25 out of 27 beeswax sheets show anomalous values for at least one parameter.