Bayberry wax is an aromatic green vegetable wax

Wax

thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...

. It is removed from the surface of the fruit of the bayberry

Myrica

Myrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australasia...

 (wax-myrtle) shrub Myrica faya

Myrica faya

Myrica faya is a species of Myrica, native to Macaronesia , and possibly also southern Portugal....

by boiling the fruits in water and skimming the wax from the surface of the water. It is made up primarily of ester

Ester

Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...

s of lauric

Lauric acid

Lauric acid , the saturated fatty acid with a 12-carbon atom chain, is a white, powdery solid with a faint odor of bay oil or soap.-Occurrence:...

, myristic

Myristic acid

Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid, is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH312COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester of myristic acid....

, and palmitic acid

Palmitic acid

Palmitic acid, or hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants. Its molecular formula is CH314CO2H. As its name indicates, it is a major component of the oil from palm trees . Palmitate is a term for the salts and esters of...

.

Uses

Bayberry wax is used primarily in the manufacture of candles and other products where the distinctive fragrance is desirable.

Properties

• Melting point
  Melting point
  The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard atmospheric pressure...
  
   = 45 °C
• Acid number
  Acid number
  In chemistry, acid value is the mass of potassium hydroxide in milligrams that is required to neutralize one gram of chemical substance. The acid number is a measure of the amount of carboxylic acid groups in a chemical compound, such as a fatty acid, or in a mixture of compounds...
  
   = 15
• Saponification value
  Saponification value
  Saponification value represents the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to saponify 1g of fat under the conditions specified. It is a measure of the average molecular weight of all the fatty acids present...
  
   = 220
• Iodine number
  Iodine number
  The iodine value in chemistry is the mass of iodine in grams that is consumed by 100 grams of a chemical substance. An iodine solution is yellow/brown in color and any chemical group in the substance that reacts with iodine will make the color disappear at a precise concentration...
  
  = 6