Glazing agent

A glazing agent is a natural or synthetic substance that provides a waxy, homogeneous, coating to prevent water loss from a surface and provide other protection.

Natural glazing agents have been found, usually in plants or insects. In nature, the agents are used to keep the moisture in the organism, but science has harnessed this characteristic by turning it into a glazing agent that acts as a coating. The glazing agent is made up of a substance that is classified as a wax. A natural wax is chemically defined as an ester with a very long hydrocarbon chain that also includes a long chain alcohol. However, in a wax there have been many different chemical structures that can be included in a definition of a wax, such as: wax esters, sterol esters, ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and sterols.

Examples are:

Science has produced glazing agents that mimic their natural counterparts. These components are added in different proportions to achieve the optimal glazing agent for a product. Such products include cosmetics, automobiles and food.

There are different variations of glazing agents, depending on the product, but they are all designed for the same purpose.

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