An Investigation of Molecular Structure and Dynamics of Crude Beeswax by Vibrational Spectroscopy

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the structure of beeswax combs in native state (crude beeswax) of the Polish bees (Apis mellifera) from different country regions. Aliphatic saturated and monounsaturated compounds are major comb wax constituents, mainly esters and hydrocarbons, but also alcohols, free acids and other materials. The long chains of hydrocarbons, with C21C35, C27 and C31 alkanes predominating, tend to form semicrystal-like local structures during the process of wax aggregation into solid state. In general, this process is quite similar to the one studied in our laboratory for binary n-alkanes mixtures in solid solution.