Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Castor Wax)
INCI Hydrogenated Castor Oil. Also: Castor wax, Castor oil, hydrogenated, Hardened castor oil, HCO.
Published values
| Saponification value | 176–182 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 179.0 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1276 g/g |
| Iodine value | ≤ 5 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 174 |
| Melting point | 83–88 °C |
| Unsaponifiable matter | — |
A bar made of 100 % Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Castor Wax)
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | ≤ 2 | 2.0 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 7–14 | 10.5 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | ≤ 1 | 1.0 |
Where these numbers come from
Text between the "Ph Eur" markers is the Ph. Eur. monograph. Identification A melting point (2.2.14) 83-88 C; Tests: acid value max. 4.0, hydroxyl value 145-165, iodine value max. 5.0, composition of the fatty-acid fraction (2.4.22, Method A; 12-hydroxystearate peak corrected with a relative correction factor). No saponification value and no unsaponifiable test. The BP 2013 text of the same monograph (https://www.drugfuture.com/Pharmacopoeia/BP2013/data/8025.html) prints the same limits.
Melting range (Class II <741>) 85-88 C; free fatty acids NMT 11.0 mL of 0.1 N NaOH for 20 g; hydroxyl value 154-162; iodine value NMT 5; saponification value 176-182 (used for sapKohMgPerG). No fatty-acid composition. The page scan of the same monograph on the same mirror (https://www.drugfuture.com/Pharmacopoeia/usp35/PDF/1744-1744%20Hydrogenated%20Castor%20Oil.pdf) prints "Official from May 1, 2012" and the same values (its text layer carries any limit signs as U+2264, which pdftotext keeps only with -enc UTF-8).
Melting range (Class II <741>) 85-88 C, iodine value NMT 5, saponification value 176-182, hydroxyl value 154-162, free fatty acids NMT 11.0 mL of 0.1 N NaOH - unchanged from USP 35-NF 30; the page marks the deletion of the heavy-metals test "(Official 1-Dec-2015)".
Chemical properties table: melting point (USP 741) 85-89 C; acid value (USP 401) 3 maximum mg KOH/g; saponification value (USP 401) 174 minimum mg KOH/g; iodine value (USP 401) 3 maximum g/100g. INCI, CAS and EINECS printed in the regulatory block.
Linked from the producer page https://www.itoh-oilchem.co.jp/product-series/products02/. Table columns: colour (Gardner), melting point (C), acid value, saponification value (mg KOH/g), iodine value (g I2/100g), hydroxyl value (mg KOH/g). No composition.
Ph. Eur. monograph 1497, printed in BP 2024 (Ph. Eur. 11.3 update) as 'Hydrogenated Castor Oil': fatty oil obtained by hydrogenation of Virgin castor oil or Refined castor oil or a mixture of both, consisting mainly of the triglyceride of 12-hydroxystearic (12-hydroxyoctadecanoic) acid. Melting point (2.2.14): 83 C to 88 C; acid value max. 4.0; hydroxyl value 145 to 165; iodine value max. 5.0. Composition of the fatty-acid fraction (GC, 2.4.22 Method A, per cent m/m): palmitic acid max. 2.0 %; stearic acid 7.0-14.0 %; arachidic acid max. 1.0 %; 12-oxostearic acid max. 5.0 %; 12-hydroxystearic acid 78.0-91.0 %; any other fatty acid max. 3.0 % each. Not mapped (no schema key): 12-hydroxystearic acid 78.0-91.0 %, which is ricinoleic acid with its double bond hydrogenated and so is not filed under ricinoleic (C18:1-OH); 12-oxostearic acid max. 5.0 %; any other fatty acid. The mapped keys therefore cover only 13.5 % of the fatty acids (representative values), and soap-quality figures computed from them describe that minor fraction, not the wax. With 12-hydroxystearic acid at its midpoint (84.5 %, M 300.48) and 12-oxostearic acid at its maximum (5.0 %, M 298.46) added, the composition implies about 180.6 mg KOH/g, inside the published 176-182; the mapped keys alone imply 190.1. The Ph. Eur. prints no saponification value. sapKohMgPerG is from the USP 35-NF 30 NF monograph 'Hydrogenated Castor Oil' (refined, bleached, hydrogenated and deodorized Castor Oil, consisting mainly of the triglyceride of hydroxystearic acid): saponification value between 176 and 182; the same monograph gives melting range (Class II <741>) between 85 and 88 C, iodine value not more than 5, hydroxyl value between 154 and 162 and free fatty acids not more than 11.0 mL of 0.1 N sodium hydroxide for 20 g, and no fatty-acid composition. USP 38-NF 33 prints the same values. Producers: Koster Keunen Castor Wax (INCI Hydrogenated Castor Oil, CAS 8001-78-3, EINECS 232-292-2): melting point (USP 741) 85-89 C, acid value 3 maximum, saponification value 174 minimum, iodine value 3 maximum. ITOH Oil Chemicals castor-oil-derivatives catalogue (Japanese), hydrogenated castor oil: melting point 80-90 C, acid value <=3, saponification value 175-185, iodine value <=5, hydroxyl value 150-165; grade A: melting point 84-87 C, acid value <=2, saponification value 175-185, iodine value <=3, hydroxyl value 155-165 (rows paired from pdftotext -raw; -layout offsets the product names by one row). Degree of hydrogenation: fully hydrogenated (iodine value max. 5.0). unsaponifiablePercent is null: neither pharmacopoeia nor either producer prints an unsaponifiable limit. meltingPointC is the Ph. Eur. 2.2.14 (capillary) melting point; the USP <741> Class II range is 85-88 C. CosIng lists no saponified name for hydrogenated castor oil.
This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL). Found an error or a better primary source? The dataset is on GitHub; corrections with a document link are welcome.