A humectant is a hygroscopic substance that is used as a food additive. Since hygroscopic substances absorb water from the air, the addition of a humectant has the effect of keeping the foodstuff moist. It is often a molecule with several hydrophilic groups, most often hydroxyl groups, but amines and carboxyl groups, sometimes esterified, can be encountered as well; the affinity to form hydrogen bonds with molecules of water is crucial here. A hygroscopic substance is a substance that absorbs water readily from its surroundings. ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ... Food additives are substances added to food to preserve it or improve its flavor and appearance. ... A girl in a swimming pool full of water Water (from the Old English waeter; c. ... Look up air in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The adjective hydrophilic describes something that likes water (from Greek hydros = water; philos = friend). ... Hydroxide is a functional group consisting of oxygen and hydrogen: -O−H It has a charge of 1-. The term hydroxyl group is used when the functional group -OH is counted as a substituent of an organic compound. ... Ammonia Amines are organic compounds and a type of functional group that contain nitrogen as the key atom. ... In chemistry, a carboxyl group is a functional group consisting of a carbon atom doubly bonded to an oxygen atom and single-bonded to a hydroxyl (-OH) group, typically written as -COOH: where R is a hydrogen or an organic group. ... General formula of an ester of a carboxylic acid. ... Snapshot from a simulation of liquid water. ...

Humectants are sometimes used as a component of antistatic coatings for plastics. Antistatic agents are compounds used for treatment of materials or their surfaces in order to reduce or eliminate buildup of static electricity. ... Plastic is a term that covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ...

An example of a humectant is glycerine, propylene glycol (E 1520) and glyceryl triacetate (E1518). Others can be polyols like sorbitol (E420) or maltitol (E965), polymeric polyols like polydextrose (E1200) or natural extracts like quillaia (E999), or lactic acid or urea. Glycerin, also known as glycerine and glycerol, and less commonly as 1,2,3-propanetriol, 1,2,3-trihydroxypropane, glyceritol, and glycyl alcohol is a colorless, odorless, hygroscopic, and sweet tasting viscous liquid. ... Chemical structure of propylene glycol Propylene glycol (C3H8O2; CAS no. ... For the mathematical constant see: E (mathematical constant). ... A sugar alcohol (also known as a polyol, polyhydric alcohol, or polyalcohol) is a hydrogenated form of carbohydrate, whose carbonyl group (aldehyde or ketone, reducing sugar) has been reduced to a primary or secondary hydroxyl group. ... Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, is a sugar alcohol the body metabolises slowly. ... Maltitol is a sugar alcohol (polyol) used as a sugar substitute. ... Polydextrose is a multi-purpose additive synthesized from dextrose, plus about 10 percent sorbitol and 1 percent citric acid. ... Quillaia is the milled inner bark or small stems and branches of the soapbark Quillaja saponaria Molina (family Rosaceae). ... Lactic acid, also known as milk acid or 2-hydroxypropanoic acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemical processes. ... Urea is an organic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, with the formula CON2H4 or (NH2)2CO. Urea is also known as carbamide, especially in the recommended International Non-proprietary Names (rINN) in use in Europe. ...