Avaliação do controle de qualidade da cera de carnaúba

Abstract

Carnauba is a palm tree belonging to the Copernicia genus, and the only species that produces the powder that produces the wax is Copernicia prunifera, found in the Caatinga and the Brazilian Cerrado, which makes the Northeast region, more specifically, the only place in the world to produce of carnauba wax, which over the years has remained one of the most important export products in the states of Ceará, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte. Carnauba wax is operated from the processing of carnauba straw powder and there are two types of waxy powder: eye powder, which originates wax type 1 and straw powder, which produces as type 3 and type 4 waxes. product of natural origin, has several important applications and being a product used worldwide, carnauba wax undergoes strict quality control. Thus, this work aims to monitor the quality control of Carnauba Wax. For this, the following tests were carried out: Melting Range, Insoluble Impurities, Acidity Indices, Esters, Saponification, Volatile Materials, Hydrogen Peroxide, Ignition and Moisture Residues, carried out according to methods standardized by institutes such as AMERWAX (The American Wax Importers and Refiners Association), ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), USP (US Pharmacopeial Convention) and/or EP (European Pharmacopoeia) and compared to USP, EP, Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) and internal specifications by company where this work was developed. According to the results, among the 20 analyzed, 1 did not meet a single parameter (ignition residue) and the reason for this was the occurrence of rupture in the filter canvas and another did not meet a single parameter (peroxide index) of hydrogen) for its possible quality of the eye powder used to produce the wax and / or addition of excess peroxide, exceeding the saturation point. Variability of results was noted between types of wax, mainly due to the varied nature of powder or raw wax. In this sense, it is crucial to prepare studies that point out the differences and similarities between the different types of carnauba wax, from the point of view of their organic and inorganic composition, as well as their quantification.