Vegoil Soapstock Could Make Hair Gel

WASHINGTON - Feb 24/03 - SNS -- Hair gel and other petroleum based styling agents are enjoying widespread popularity in westernized countries, but new research shows these products could as easily be made from renewable resources such as lipid compounds derived from soapstock, an underused byproduct of oilseed processing.

Sam Kuk, a chemical engineer with the Agricultural Research Service based in the Commodity Utilization Research Unit at ARS' Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, La., has been studying plant-based compounds as a 21st-century alternative to the synthetic ingredients used in many hair care products today.

Right now, most hair gel benefits from the holding power of synthetic polymers. When the gel is applied, the main ingredient--water--evaporates, leaving a thin film around the hair strands, helping to keep them in place.

Kuk has found that one can get the same kind of hold with lipid compounds derived from soapstock, an underused byproduct of oilseed processing. Normally, these lipid compounds are hard to recover. They degenerate through oxidation and are wasted. However, Kuk has found a way to reclaim the valuable compounds and then treat them so that they maintain their useful properties.

The subscriber version of the article is available by Clicking here