Any of the substances containing esters of higher fatty acids and long-chain monohydric alcohols. From a practical standpoint, this definition is inadequate because it allows liquids such as sperm whale oil and jojoba oil to be called waxes, and it fails to indicate the complexity of waxes. While waxes do contain wax esters, they are seldom if ever pure. They are usually mixtures that may contain high-molecular-weight acids, alcohols, esters, ketones, hydrocarbons, sterols, diesters, hydroxyacids, and so forth, as well as the wax esters. See also Ester.
Practical wax formulators use physical, rather than chemical, properties to define waxes. Waxes must: be a solid at 68°F (20°C); be crystalline; melt above 140°F (40°C) without decomposition; have relatively low viscosity above the melting point; have consistency and solubility properties that are strongly dependent upon temperature; and be capable of being polished under slight pressure.
Wax sources are abundant. They have been isolated from the outer layers of bacteria, the roots, stems, leaves, fruit, and flowers of plants, the exudates of insects, the skin and hair of some animals, and the bodies of certain marine and land animals. Carnauba wax is extracted from an exudate on the leaves of the carnauba palm (Copernicia prunifera). Candelilla wax is obtained from a coating on the stem of Euphorbia antisyphilitica, a leafless desert shrub. Beeswax is an exudate of the honeybee. Wool wax is obtained from sheep wool. Many other waxes have been of commercial importance from time to time, but their availability or cost has forced them from the market. See also Carnauba wax;
