HS 29156090

Caproic Acid

Caproic Acid is a six-carbon saturated straight-chain fatty acid (C6:0) with the molecular formula C₆H₁₂O₂, also known as hexanoic acid. It is an oily, colourless to pale-yellow liquid with a pungent, goat-like odour that gives the compound its common name (from the Latin caper, goat).

At low dilution it functions as a flavour and fragrance building block contributing fatty, cheesy, and tropical-fruit notes. At higher concentration it serves as a feedstock for ester synthesis, plasticizer manufacture, and lubricant chemistry.

We source bulk Caproic Acid from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.

Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.

or call +86-21-6858 0751

Packaging: 190 kg steel drum or 25 kg jerrican

ISO 9001
HACCP
Halal
Kosher

Specifications

Item	Specification
Appearance	Colourless to pale yellow oily liquid
Odour	Characteristic fatty, cheesy, goat-like odour
Colour (APHA)	≤ 30
Assay (by GC)	≥ 99.0%
Acid Value	478 - 487 mg KOH/g
Specific Gravity (25/25 °C)	0.921 - 0.928
Refractive Index (20 °C)	1.415 - 1.418
Solidification Point	≥ -5.0 °C
Water (Karl Fischer)	≤ 0.5%
Peroxide Value	≤ 5 meq/kg
Residue on Ignition	≤ 0.01%
Heavy Metals (as Pb)	≤ 10 mg/kg
Lead	≤ 2 mg/kg
Arsenic	≤ 3 mg/kg
Shelf Life	24 months in unopened original packaging

Common Markets Grades

Caproic Acid is graded across several purity tiers tied directly to its end use.

Technical grade at 98 to 99 percent assay covers the bulk of industrial demand, including ester synthesis, metal-soap manufacture, and rubber-chemical intermediates. The remaining fraction is typically a mix of C4, C5, C7, and C8 homologues left over from fractional distillation.

FCC and food-flavour grades at 99.0 percent minimum are produced under tighter distillation control and conform to the Food Chemicals Codex monograph for hexanoic acid. These lots carry low carbonyl and peroxide values to protect downstream flavour profiles.

High-purity grades above 99.5 percent, often described as natural when derived from coconut or palm-kernel oil hydrolysis, are used in dairy-flavour compounding and as a natural-source labelling option in the European Union and United States. Pharmaceutical and analytical reference material at 99.9 percent comes in small packs against USP, Ph. Eur., or JP reference standards where listed.

Applications

Flavour ingredient in cheese, butter, and dairy reaction flavours at parts-per-million dosing
Precursor to ethyl hexanoate, allyl hexanoate, and methyl hexanoate for pineapple, apple, and tropical-fruit flavour systems
Fragrance fixative and base note in fougère and chypre perfumery
Feedstock for hexyl esters used as plasticizers and synthetic lubricants
Production of metallic soaps (zinc, calcium, cobalt hexanoates) for PVC stabilisation and paint driers
Intermediate for pharmaceutical actives including caproate ester prodrugs of steroidal hormones
Rubber accelerator and antioxidant intermediate
Component of synthetic goat-milk and parmesan flavour bases for snack seasoning
Building block for medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) synthesis in clinical nutrition
Reagent in gas-chromatography column conditioning and as an analytical solvent
Microbial fermentation product target in carboxylate-platform biorefineries

Brands Using Caproic Acid

Widely-distributed consumer products that list Caproic Acid on the ingredient label.

Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.

China Manufacturers of Caproic Acid

Top Caproic Acid manufacturers in China.

Henan Kangyuan Flavours Co., Ltd.
8 ingredients in the directory

Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.

How We Help Source Caproic Acid

Direct Factory Sourcing
We run the whole process: selecting the manufacturer from the top Chinese food ingredient producers, negotiating the price, verifying quality, and coordinating the logistics. You deal with us instead of with several factories at once.
Original Packaging and Documents from the Manufacturer
The manufacturer sends your Caproic Acid out of its own factory in the original packing, through to your destination port. The COA, COO, MSDS, TDS and any certifications reach you from the manufacturer as well.
Free Samples and Lead Time
We send 100 to 500 g free for your own laboratory to test and you cover only the courier, usually within 2 to 3 working days. ETD is usually within 7 to 15 days once the order is confirmed, and we check that date against the factory's own manufacturing schedule before we give it to you.
Combined Shipment
We can load Caproic Acid together with other ingredients such as Calcium Acetate, Citric Acid and Glucono-Delta-Lactone into one 20' FCL. If your quantity is small, we can also ship LCL.

Regulatory Status

Caproic Acid is broadly accepted as a flavouring substance across major jurisdictions.

In the United States, 21 CFR 172.515 lists it as a synthetic flavouring substance and adjuvant, and FEMA evaluation gives it GRAS status under FEMA number 2559. It is also listed in 21 CFR 184.1025 as a direct food substance affirmed as GRAS when derived by hydrolysis of edible fats and oils.

In the European Union it is included in the Union list of authorised flavouring substances under Regulation (EC) 1334/2008 with FL number 08.030. JECFA has evaluated hexanoic acid within its assessment of saturated aliphatic acyclic linear primary alcohols, aldehydes, and acids, and raised no safety concern at current levels of intake.

Japan permits it as a flavouring substance under the Food Sanitation Act. It is also recognised by the Council of Europe and listed in the IOFI Code of Practice.

Pharmacopoeial reference monographs exist in limited form, typically as USP or Ph. Eur. reference materials supporting analytical work rather than as drug-substance monographs.

Manufacturing Process

Caproic Acid Manufacturing Process

Loading process diagram…

Two routes account for almost all commercial caproic acid.

The petrochemical route oxidises n-hexanal or n-hexanol over cobalt or manganese catalysts in the liquid phase at 60 to 120 °C. Crude product is washed, dried, and fractionated under vacuum to separate the C6 cut from lower and higher homologues. This pathway dominates technical and industrial-grade supply.

The oleochemical route hydrolyses coconut oil or palm-kernel oil to free fatty acids, then fractionates the C6 to C10 cut by short-path or steam distillation. The C6 fraction is washed and re-distilled to FCC purity. Material from this route qualifies for natural labelling in flavour regulations.

A third, emerging route uses anaerobic chain-elongation fermentation. Mixed cultures of Clostridium kluyveri and related organisms condense ethanol and acetate into caproate under controlled pH and hydrogen partial pressure. Extraction by membrane contactor or pertraction recovers the free acid. Commercial-scale plants based on this technology have been operating in the Netherlands and the United States since the late 2010s.