What is Stearyl alcohol

Stearyl alcohol or Octadecyl alcohol is a  fatty acid, water-insoluble waxe, an organic component present in human.

From where it is extracted

It is obtained from the stearic acid of coconut and other vegetables.

The volatile oils of the leaves and the stem bark of Acacia mearnsii de Wild obtained by hydro-distillation were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 20, 38, 29 and 38 components accounted for 93.8%, 92.1%, 78.5% and 90.9% of the total oils of the fresh, dry leaves and fresh, dry stem bark, respectively. The major components of the oil were octadecyl alcohol (25.5%) and phytol (10.5%); cis-verbenol (29.5%); phytol (10.1%) and phytol (23.4%) for the fresh leaves, dried leaves, fresh stem, dry stem bark, respectively. Oral administration of essential oils at a dose of 2% showed significant (p < 0.05) anti-inflammatory properties in the albumin-induced test model in rats. Oils from the fresh leaves and dry stems inhibited inflammation beyond 4 h post treatment. The potent anti-inflammatory activity of essential oils of A. mearnsii hereby confirmed its traditional use in treating various inflammatory diseases (1).

What is it for?

It is generally used in cosmetics as an emollient.

The objective of this work was to create a shampoo formula that contains a stable ordered gel network structure that delivers fatty alcohols inside hair. The formation of a stable gel network was confirmed in the formulated shampoo, and it was demonstrated that this gel network is important to deliver cetyl and stearyl alcohols into hair. The presence of fatty alcohol inside hair was shown to deliver a hair strength benefit via cyclic fatigue testing (2).

Medicine

Extracellular lipase activity from Ralstonia sp. NT80 is induced significantly by fatty alcohols such as stearyl alcohol. We found that when lipase expression was induced by stearyl alcohol, a 14-kDa protein (designated EliA) was produced concomitantly and abundantly in the culture supernatant. Cloning and sequence analysis revealed that EliA shared 30% identity with the protein-like activator protein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which facilitates oxidation and assimilation of n-hexadecane. Inactivation of the eliA gene caused a significant reduction in the level of induction of lipase expression by stearyl alcohol. Furthermore, turbidity that was caused by the presence of emulsified stearyl alcohol, an insoluble material, remained in the culture supernatant of the ΔeliA mutant during the late stationary phase, whereas the culture supernatant of the wild type at 72 h was comparatively clear. In contrast, when lipase expression was induced by polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether, a soluble material, inactivation of eliA did not affect the extracellular lipase activity greatly. These results strongly indicate that EliA facilitates the induction of lipase expression, presumably by promoting the recognition and/or incorporation of the induction signal that is attributed to stearyl alcohol (3).

Molecular Formula : C₁₈H₃₈O

Molecular Weight: 270.501

CAS : 112-92-5

Synonyms : Octadecanol; 1-Hydroxyoctadecane; Octadecan-1-ol;

References________________________

(1) Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oils from Acacia mearnsii de Wild.

Avoseh ON, Oyedeji OO, Aremu K, Nkeh-Chungag BN, Songca SP, Oluwafemi SO, Oyedeji AO.

Nat Prod Res. 2015;29(12):1184-8. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2014.983504. Epub 2014 Nov 25.

(2) Gel network shampoo formulation and hair health benefits.

Marsh JM, Brown MA, Felts TJ, Hutton HD, Vatter ML, Whitaker S, Wireko FC, Styczynski PB, Li C, Henry ID.

Int J Cosmet Sci. 2017 Oct;39(5):543-549. doi: 10.1111/ics.12409. Epub 2017 Jul 26

(3) EliA facilitates the induction of lipase expression by stearyl alcohol in Ralstonia sp. NT80.

Akanuma G, Ishibashi H, Miyagawa T, Yoshizawa R, Watanabe S, Shiwa Y, Yoshikawa H, Ushio K, Ishizuka M.

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2013 Feb;339(1):48-56. doi: 10.1111/1574-6968.12055. Epub 2012 Dec 20.