Vegetable Glycerin, What Is It, Uses, Benefits and Side Effects?

What Is Vegetable Glycerin?

Glycerin is a sugar alcohol derived from animal products, plants or petroleum.
Vegetable glycerin is the variant made from plant oils. It is said to have been accidentally discovered more than two centuries ago by heating a mixture of olive oil and lead monoxide.
But it only became economically and industrially significant in the late 1800s when it was first used to make dynamite.
Vegetable glycerin is made by heating triglyceride-rich vegetable fats — such as palm, soy and coconut oils — under pressure or together with a strong alkali, such as lye.
This causes the glycerin to split away from the fatty acids and mix together with water, forming an odorless, sweet-tasting, syrup-like liquid.

Summary Vegetable glycerin is a slightly sweet, syrupy liquid made by heating vegetable fats under pressure or together with a strong alkali.

 

Common Uses

Vegetable glycerin is widely used in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. For instance, it is often added to foods to help oil and water-based ingredients mix, sweetening or moistening the final product.
It can be also used to prevent ice crystals from forming in frozen foods, such as low-fat frozen yogurt, ice cream and other desserts.
Glycerin is a common ingredient in pharmaceutical drugs, including heart medication, suppositories, cough remedies and anesthetics.
Additionally, you can find vegetable glycerin in toothpaste, as it helps prevent the toothpaste from drying out or hardening in the tube.
What’s more, it’s commonly added to soaps, candles, lotions, deodorants and makeup.

Summary Vegetable glycerin has several uses. The most popular are cosmetics, pharmaceutical drugs and food products.

Benefits and Side effects to be cont'd.