Jump to content

Cuphea oil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cuphea oil is oil pressed from the seeds of several species of the genus Cuphea. Interest in cuphea oils is relatively recent, as a source of medium-chain triglycerides like those found in coconut oil and palm oil. Cuphea oil is of interest because it grows in climates where palms - the source of both of these oils - do not grow.

The fatty acid content of cuphea oils are as follows. The composition of coconut oil is included for comparison:[1]

Species Caprylic Capric Lauric Myristic Other
C. painteri 73.0% 20.4% 0.2% 0.3% 6.1%
C. hookeriana 65.1% 23.7% 0.1% 0.2% 10.9%
C. koehneana 0.2% 95.3% 1.0% 0.3% 3.2%
C. lanceolata 87.5% 2.1% 1.4% 9.0%
C. viscosissima 9.1% 75.5% 3.0% 1.3% 11.1%
C. carthagenensis 5.3% 81.4% 4.7% 8.6%
C. laminuligera 17.1% 62.6% 9.5% 10.8%
C. wrightii 29.4% 53.9% 5.1% 11.6%
C. lutea 0.4% 29.4% 37.7% 11.1% 21.4%
C. epilobiifolia 0.3% 19.6% 67.9% 12.2%
C. stigulosa 0.9% 18.3% 13.8% 45.2% 21.8%
Coconut 8.0% 7.0% 48.0% 18.0% 19.0%

These oils are also valuable as sources of single fatty acids. C. painteri, for example, is rich in caprylic acid (73%), where C. carthagenensis oil consists of 81% lauric acid. C. koehneana oil may be the richest natural source of a single fatty acid, with 95% of its content consisting of capric acid.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Robert Kleiman (1990). "Chemistry of New Industrial Oilseed Crops". Advances in New Crops: 196–203. Retrieved 2006-10-09.