Castor oil typically lasts for about 1-2 years, but exposure to heat, light, and air can further reduce shelf life. Different applications may have more or less tolerance for castor oil degradation. Lab Alley is proud to provide you with the highest quality castor oil whenever it’s time to restock.
Polysorbate 80 is a low molecular weight, nonionic, amphiphilic compound. It is commonly used as an emulsifier in foods to improve texture, consistency, and mouthfeel of food products. Food grade polysorbate 80 may be used in bakery products to improve density, as a solubilizer in water-oil mixtures, and as a texture-enhancer in chocolate and ice cream.
Polyethylene glycol 400, or PEG 400, is a useful compound for food industry applications. It inherently possesses emulsifying and plasticizing properties, and can interact with biopolymers to create antimicrobial, antioxidant, and self-healing materials. PEG may be used within the food system as a carrier, emulsifier, as well as for food packaging, delivery systems, and food coatings.
Castor oil is a popular remedy from ancient times that still finds therapeutic relevance today. It has a multitude of valuable healing properties including anti-microbial, antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory. Castor oil is used topically and orally to treat gynecological disorders, gastrointestinal organs, and to promote general healing. The efficacy of castor oil is largely attributed to its primary component, ricinoleic acid, which resembles prostaglandins, and is thus able to influence a variety of biochemical pathways.
Activated charcoal is becoming increasingly useful as a way to prevent and mitigate environmental pollution. It is a highly effective adsorbent material that can be derived or recycled from most high-density, high-carbon materials. Thanks to its high surface area and chemical versatility, activated charcoal can be used for a wide variety of environmental applications.
Not all water is created equal, especially in the laboratory. It’s important to know which type of water to use for each application in order to achieve reliable results, preserve the life of your equipment, and save money. To make things simple, we’ve created a quick guide on the different types of water available at Lab Alley.
Mercury has long been revered as an almost magical substance thanks to its unique properties and versatile applications. Mercury is a heavy, silver-white metal, and the only metal that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure. In traditional Chinese, Tibetan, and Ayurvedic medicines, it has been used for over 3,000 years in the treatment of syphilis, convulsions, parasites, and many other ailments. It is also frequently used in the modern health sector, for medical tools and dental fillings. Despite its known neurotoxicity and environmental concerns, some experts argue that mercury should still have a role in modern applications. For example, experts in traditional medicine argue that the form of mercury and its valence state should be taken into consideration. Experts in the field of electrochemistry argue that mercury-based electrodes are superior to modern replacements due to ease of use, robustness, and reliability.
Glycerol is a ubiquitous compound in the food industry, and for good reason. It is found naturally in all fats and oils as the backbone of the triglyceride molecule. It is easily recognized and metabolized by the body as a carbohydrate, and therefore is not a toxicity concern. Glycerol has a slightly sweet taste, viscous consistency, and is easily soluble in both water and ethanol. These properties make it an excellent additive to improve mouthfeel and sweetness, or as a carrier for other compounds such as flavorants. It is also a useful humectant and antimicrobial agent. Glycerol is commonly derivatized to obtain other food additives that can act as preservatives and emulsifiers, such as glycerol monolaurate, polyglycerol, and polyglycerol esters.
If you’re not familiar with the chemical potassium sorbate, then you are probably someone who doesn’t often read product labels. Potassium sorbate is used in tons of products as a preservative – from foods, to cosmetics, to pharmaceuticals. It has GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status and is widely regarded as a safe, all-purpose antimicrobial and anti-fungal agent. Because of the chemistry of this molecule, its use should be limited to acidic matrices and the concentration must be kept below the legal limit to reduce the risk of cytotoxic and genotoxic activity. Used properly, potassium sorbate can help to improve the quality and safety of everyday products.
History has shown that acetonitrile is practically irreplaceable in many industries, the most critical of which is the pharmaceutical industry. This clear, colorless solvent, is an organic cyanide (also known by the name methyl cyanide). It has a methyl group (―CH3) bonded to a cyano group (―C ≡ N). Its chemical structure make it uniquely suited as an analytical reagent, reaction solvent, and synthetic substrate. One reason why acetonitrile is so important to the pharmaceutical industry is because it is a convenient source of cyanide, which is present in many medicinal compounds. It can also be used in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, which are known for their biological activity. Many critical applications of acetonitrile require high purity, USP grade chemicals that cannot be obtained via recycled waste.
