At present, the major castor markets are the USA, China, Russia, Japan and the European community countries [ 5 ]. Production and percentage share of castor seed by major producing countries (in 1000 tonnes) India being the largest producer of castor seeds, it also heavily dominates in castor oil production worldwide.
Can castor oil be used as a bio-based raw material?
The presence of a hydroxyl group, carboxylate and double bonds in the ricinoleic acid, imparts unique properties for the derivatization of castor oil into vital industrial raw materials. It has been shown how castor oil can be used as a renewable bio-based raw material for the production a multitude of functional materials.
Is castor oil a green bio-resource?
The worldwide increase in the production of castor seeds and castor oil testifies the huge potential as a green bio-resource for chemical transformations because castor oil can be used as the starting material for producing a wide range of end-products. Ogunniyi DS (2006) Castor oil: a vital industrial raw material.
What is castor oil?
Castor oil is increasingly becoming an important bio-based raw material for industrial applications. The oil is non-edible and can be extracted from castor seeds from the castor plant belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. The oil is a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid esters linked to a glycerol.