REVIEW OF RICE BRAN WAX FOR ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND POTENTIAL USES

Sonal Kapur* and Deepak Wasule

ABSTRACT

Rice Bran wax is a rice bran oil refinement by-product. It is a soft/hard wax with a calculated potential availability of about 300,000 tonnes per year. Recent trends indicate an increase in the demand for natural products under the influence of social norms, beliefs, and an eco-friendly way of life leading to the use of natural waxes such as rice bran wax as an alternative, economic, and sustainable natural by-product. Natural and synthetic waxes are complex mixtures of chemical compounds. Recent scientific efforts, prompted by societal trends, focus on replacing the use of petroleum-based waxes across industries. The demand for natural waxes is ever-increasing due to increasing concerns about safety and environmental impacts such as deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, natural resource conservation, and global warming. Rice bran wax is obtained from the husk of rice Oryza sativa. The major components of rice bran wax are aliphatic acids and higher alcohol esters. It is available as both hard and soft wax, is inexpensive, sustainable, can be produced in larger amounts, resulting in its use as a replacement for many higher-priced natural and synthetic waxes. It is used in pharmaceuticals, drugs, and cosmeceuticals (Creams, Glamour Products, Lotions, Sun Care, Mascara, and Lip Balms) as a thickener, binder, and gelling agent. Rice bran wax can be extracted and refined by various methods like solvent extraction, cold and hot extraction, batch chromatography, mechanical extraction, fractionation, tank settling followed by bleaching for further refining.

Keywords: Rice bran wax, Extraction, Refining, Pharmaceuticals, Cosmeceuticals.