Palmitic Acid

Palmitic Acid is a common saturated fatty acid found in fats and waxes including olive oil, palm oil, and body lipids. It is a saturated long-chain fatty acid with a 16-carbon backbone. Palmitic acid is found naturally in palm oil and palm kernel oil, as well as butter, cheese, milk and meat.

It is used to produce soaps, cosmetics and industrial mold release agents. These applicactions use sodium palmitate which is commonly obtained by saponification of palm oil. Hydrogenation of palmitic acid yields cetyl alcohol, which is used to produce detergents and cosnmetics.