Castor oil

Not to be confused with Castoreum.
For the fictional character from the Thimble Theatre comic strip, see Castor Oyl.

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. Its boiling point is 313 °C (595 °F) and its density is 0.961 g/cm3.[3] It includes a mixture of triglycerides in which about 90 percent of fatty acids are ricinoleates. Oleic acid and linoleic acid are the other significant components.

Some 270,000–360,000 tonnes (600–800 million pounds) of castor oil are produced annually for a variety of uses.[4] Castor oil and its derivatives are used in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold-resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, and perfumes.[4]

  1. ^ Thomas, Alfred (2005). "Fats and Fatty Oils". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a10_173. ISBN 978-3527306732.
  2. ^ Aggrawal, Dr Anil. APC Forensic Medicine and Toxicology for MBBS. Avichal Publishing Company. p. 530. ISBN 978-81-7739-491-7.
  3. ^ Aldrich Handbook of Fine Chemicals and Laboratory Equipment. Sigma-Aldrich. 2003.[full citation needed]
  4. ^ a b Mutlu, H; Meier, MAR (January 2010). "Castor oil as a renewable resource for the chemical industry". European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 112 (1): 10–30. doi:10.1002/ejlt.200900138.