Castor oil, a renewable vegetable oil resource derived from the seed of
Ricinus communis
, is a versatile material that finds use as an industrial article of commerce. Castor oil is the only principal industrial oil that consists of 90% of the glyceride of a hydroxy acid, ricinoleic acid. The presence of the hydroxyl group in addition to the olefinic linkage, accounts for a unique combination of physical and chemical properties.
World production, processing, and utilization of the oil to produce a variety of oleochemcals, are described as are the properties and chemical modifications of castor oil and its derivatives. Processes for recovery of the oil and meal, dehydration, polyamide polymer formation, sulfonation, alkali fusion, pyrolysis, hydrogenation, alkoxylation, and urethane reactions are discussed, and applications for the various materials are presented.