The new ingredient palmitic/stearic triglycerides is a mixture of vegetable triglycerides containing saturated fatty acids with chain length C16–18 (deposited INCI4 name “palmitic/stearic triglycerides”, patent WO 2012/131624A1), and is obtained by processing the lampante fraction of the olive oil produced only by physical means and no chemical treatment. This fraction is not as valuable as extra-virgin or virgin fractions, and is not suitable for food industry due to high acidity (about 3%), so it is often refined in order to be edible or to be employed as fine chemical.
The palmitic/stearic triglycerides replace the caprylic/capric triglyceride but its low affinity with silicone (dimethicone) alters the thickening effect. Therefore, in order to obtain the same performance in the final product and to improve the synergistic effect of palmitic/stearic triglycerides with the other ingredients, dimethicone has to be replaced by some fossil-based mixtures (C15–17 alkanes, C21–28 alkanes and C17–21 alkanes), which have a more similar chemical structure to that of palmitic/stearic triglycerides (WO 2012/131624A1)