DESCRIPTION

Polysorbate 40 occurs as a lemon-to-orange colored oily liquid or semi-gel at 25°, with a faint, characteristic odor. It is a mixture of the partial esters of sorbitol and its mono- and dianhydrides (which have an acid value below 7.5 and a water content below 0.2%) with edible commercial palmitic acid condensed with approximately 20 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of sorbitol and its anhydrides. Polysorbate 40 is soluble in water, ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, and acetone; and is insoluble in mineral oil.