AURO - The natural choice for daily life - page 52

CARNAUBA WAX
WAX FROM THE TREE OF WISDOM
The precious carnauba wax is won from the Brazilian car-
nauba palm and has recently experienced renewed popu-
larity. The manifold application possibilities of the natural
wax and its freedom from any fragrances have contributed
to this development. The wax of the young palm leaves is
light yellow to green and is used, for example, as an addi-
tive to achieve the requested consistency and lustre of
anoints, cremes or lipsticks. Approximately
300 years ago, the Tremebé Indi-
ans already knew about the
manifold ways to use the wax
and named the palm that can
achieve a height of 15 metres
the „tree of wisdom“. The com-
mercial importance of the carnauba
palm was discovered not before the beginning of the
19
th
century. Especially the stem and the wax became
export hits.
Harvesting and extraction of the wax
The greater part of the carnauba wax is won from the
young leaves of the palm. The leaves are covered on both
sides with numerous small wax scales that are
secreted by the leaves as a protective layer
in order to avoid evaporation. The pre-
cious wax is won by scraping off or
by boiling out the leaves. Among
the natural waxes, it has the highest
fusion point, approximately 85 °C. It is
harvested during the dry season. From Sep-
The carnauba palm achieves a
height of 15 metres and is also
called the „tree of wisdom“.
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