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Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans, the seeds of the plant Ricinus communis. [1] The seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil. [ 2 ] It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor.
In modern vegetable oil production, oils are usually extracted chemically, using a solvent such as hexane. Chemical extraction is cheaper and more efficient than mechanical extraction, at a large scale, leaving only 0.5–0.7% of the oil in the plant solids, as compared to 6–14% for mechanical extraction.
Ricinus communis, the castor bean [1] or castor oil plant, [2] is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus , Ricinus , and subtribe , Ricininae .
A further byproduct called tall oil fatty acid (TOFA) is a cheap source of oleic acid. [219] Tamanu or foraha oil [220] from the Calophyllum tacamahaca, is important in Polynesian culture, and, although very expensive, [220] is used for skin care. [221] Tonka bean oil (Cumaru oil), popular ingredient in cologne, used medicinally in Brazil. [222]
Castor oil has numerous industrial uses, owing to the presence of a hydroxyl group on the fatty acid. Castor oil is a precursor to Nylon 11. Castor oil may also be reacted with epichlorohydrin to make a glycidyl ether which is used as a diluent and flexibilizer with epoxy resins. [citation needed]
Castor wax – catalytically hydrogenated castor oil; Esparto wax – a byproduct of making paper from esparto grass (Macrochloa tenacissima) Japan wax – a vegetable triglyceride (not a true wax), from the berries of Rhus and Toxicodendron species; Jojoba oil – a liquid wax ester, from the seed of Simmondsia chinensis.
Castor oil by itself has been used in making a variety of polyurethane products, ranging from coatings to foams, and the use of castor oil derivatives continues to be an area of active development. Castor oil derivatized with propylene oxide [9] makes polyurethane foam for mattresses and yet another new derivative is used in coatings [10]
First, plant material is extracted with a hydrocarbon solvent, such as hexane, to yield concrete. The concrete is then extracted with ethanol. The ethanol extract is cooled (e.g., to −15 °C) to solidify waxes, and cold filtered to yield a liquid extract. When the ethanol evaporates, an oil—the absolute—is left behind. [1]