AURO-The-Natural-Choice-for-daily-Life-04.2019

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“. 52