| Synonyms | Octadecanoic acid, (mixture of) stearic acid and palmitic acid |
| CAS number | 57-11-4 |
Stearic acid and its derivatives can be used as a surfactant, emulsifier, and lubricant in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, candles, rubbers, plastics.
European food additives number E570.
Stearic acid is primarily used for the manufacturing of stearates eg sodium stearate, potassium stearate, calcium stearate and magnesium stearate to be used in food.
Emulsifiers
Another main purpose of stearic acid in food is to produce the following emulsifiers:Â
- DATEM
- Mono and DiglyceridesÂ
- Glycerol monostearate
- Sorbitan monostearate
- Sodium stearoyl lactylate
- Calcium stearoyl lactylate
- Polysorbates (20, 40, 60, 80)
- Sorbitan tristearateÂ
- Sucrose esters of fatty acids Â
Coating agent
Stearic acid can be used as a coating agent to be applied to the surface of food to polish, preserve freshness, and prevent water evaporation, such as in cocoa products, e.g. chocolate and chocolate products and candies.
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Stearic acid functions mainly as a cleansing, emulsion stabilising, fragrance, refatting, surfactant – cleansing and surfactant – emulsifying when added to cosmetics and skin care products.Â
Applications include detergents, soaps, lotions, face cream, moisturizers, deodorants, shampoos, shaving products.Â
In pharmaceutical applications, the derivative magnesium stearate is an excipient commonly used as a lubricant in pharmaceutical tablets & capsules and supplements.
 Rubber
This ingredient is used as a dispersing agent and accelerate the vulcanization process in rubber.
Plastics
In the plastics industry, stearate (lead, zinc, calcium, barium, magnesium, etc.) can be used as a heat stabilizer, which can interact with HCl degraded from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to prevent PVC decomposition.
