Product of the Month March: Shellac (E904)

Our product of the month for March is shellac. A natural resin produced by the lac insect (Kerria lacca). The product is used in a wide variety of sectors, from cosmetics to the food industry. In this article, we primarily examine its use as a laboratory chemical and as a pharmaceutical excipient.

Shellac is a purified product that is obtained from the resinous secretions of female scale insects. The product consists mainly of aluritic acid and shellolic acid. In addition, there are other wax acids and dyes such as erythrolaccin and laccaic acid.

Decisive advantage: Formation of stable films

Shellac is available as waxy, bleached, but also wax-free – depending on the intended use.
Shellac is very versatile and possesses a number of remarkable properties.

Solubility: Shellac is soluble in ethanol, ether and propylene glycol, but insoluble in water or hexane.

Film Formation: Thanks to its property of forming stable films, shellac is very popular as a pharmaceutical excipient. It serves as an enteric-coated coating.

Shellac in the lab and beyond

Its special properties make shellac interesting for a wide range of uses. Applications in the lab include:

1. Coating/sealing: Shellac is most commonly used for surface sealing. This is particularly necessary in the production of capsules and tablets. Here, shellac serves as a glazing agent to control the release of active ingredients.

2. Film formers: Samples can also be fixed and protected by shellac in microscopy. The product forms thin but stable films. Ideal for the preparation of microscopic samples.

Versatile, yet biocompatible and non-toxic

Incidentally, shellac is also used as an insulating material in electronics and electrical engineering. Shellac can be applied to printed circuit boards to reliably protect them from humidity.

In addition, shellac is used to coat chocolate and fruit to protect them from humidity.
Despite all its versatile applications, shellac offers another decisive advantage: as a natural product, it is biocompatible and non-toxic.

We look forward to your inquiries about this product and will be happy to advise you at any time.

→ Shellac