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Castor Based Polymer Induces Bone Formation by Expressing MMP2 genes

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The study evaluated the modulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and −9 (MMP-9)  expression in newly formed bone tissue at the interface between implants derived from castor oil (Ricinus communis) polymer and the tibia medullary canal.

Results showed that the castor based polymers  induces bone formation by the expression of MMPs. The MMPs play an important role in tissue remodeling associated with various physiological and pathological processes such as morphogenesis, angiogenesis, tissue repair, cirrhosis, arthritis, and metastasis.

Forty-four rabbits were assigned to either Group 1 (n = 12; control) or Group 2 (n = 30), which had the tibial medullary canals reamed bilaterally and filled with polymer. CT scans showed no space between the material surface and the bone at the implant/bone marrow interface, and the density of the tissues at this interface was similar to the density measured of other regions of the bone. At 90 days post implantation, the interface with the polymer presented a thick layer of newly formed bone tissue rich in osteocytes. This tissue exhibited ongoing maturation at 120 and 150 days post implantation.

Overall, bone remodeling process was accompanied by positive modulation of MMP-2 and low MMP-9 expression. Differently, in control group, the internal surface close to the medullary canal was lined by osteoblasts, followed by a bone tissue zone with few lacunae filled with osteocytes. Maturation of the tissue of the medullary internal surface occurred in the inner region, with the bone being nonlamellar.

Castor Bean Plant – An Important Source for Bio based Flooring

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Hello readers,

This post at Castoroil.in briefs a few excerpts from an article at the Contract Flooring Journal, which was narrated on biobased flooring. The author explains his experience at Ecobuild, which is one of the world’s biggest events for sustainable design, construction and the built environment and presents interesting insights on biobased flooring and sustainability.

The author sees castor bean plant as one of the most important plant sources of bio-chemicals. Some of the companies using castor based flooring products, which exhibited at the show include :

  • Interface- Fotosfera ( Offers two pile weight micro tufted or pattern loop carpet tile products which features nylon 6:10 pile of which 63% is castor oil based)
  • Vorwerk (Offers ‘RE/COVER green’ which is a bio chemical based resilient florring targetted at the vinyl flooring market)

The author also brings his views on Desso, a company which makes its products, using the concept of “CRADLE TO CRADLE” – ( A biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems) Desso has partnered with Aquafil nylon recycling facility and manufactures Econyl, a 100% recycled yarn in 60% of its carpet tile range. Desso has also developed its equipment and capability to process more than 3000 tonnes of used carpet material through its Take Back Programme.

To read the article , click here – http://bit.ly/19cZBM8

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Sebacic Acid For Type 2 DiabetesTreatment

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Researchers at Nestle – a leading Swiz based nutrition and health company – had discovered that sebacic acid (a 10-carbon dicarboxylic acid and a derivative of castor oil) significantly reduced hyperglycemia  in type 2 diabetic subjects.

Researchers first conducted a study with people with type 2 diabetes. The men and women were given a meal containing 0g sebacic acid (control), 10g of sebacic acid in addition to the meal, or 23g of sebacic acid in substitution of fat in the meal. Researchers were interested to find that postprandial glycemia decreased by 42% in the group given the 10g sebacic acid, while the group who consumed 23g experienced a 70% decrease. Additionally, the rate of peripheral glucose appearance was significantly reduced in the 23g sebacic acid group, suggesting decreased glucose absorption and/or improved peripheral glucose uptake.

Full Article can be accessed from: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/11/2327.full.pdf

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Castor Oil Based Detergents Shown To Be Effective In Controlling Microorganisms

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A research study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a castor oil-based detergent on strawberry crops treated with different classes of pesticides. Experimental crops of greenhouse strawberries were cultivated in five different ways with control groups using pesticides and castor oil-based detergent. The results showed that the crops when treated with castor oil-based detergent, presented the lowest amount of pesticide residues and the highest quality of fruit produced.

The research and use of castor oil-based detergent is still incipient,but the results are highly promising in view of its apparent efficiency in the control of microorganisms, its low toxicity and its low cost in Brazil. For the other hand, it could represent an excellent alternative to control a wide range of organisms, since it is environmentally safe, biodegradable, non-resistible to botanical insecticides, and its cost is low.

Read More: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/qn/v35n2/21.pdf

Methods of Production of Novel Castor Oil Derivatives

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This research carried out at the National Center for Scientific Research, France discusses the production methods of the castor oil derivatives.

There exist different approaches for synthesizing polymers based on vegetable oils. The first most widespread one consists of considering triglycerides as base materials, the latter may be epoxidized and for example alcoholized or hydroformylated in order to make them functional and polymerizable.

An oil is a mixture of triglycerides (triesters) formed by condensation of fatty acids and of glycerol. The high number of fatty acid types (up to 24) present in each fat and the multiple possibilities of their combinations with glycerol molecules have the result that the fats are highly complex mixtures of compounds, the properties of which vary from one oil to another. The nature of the triglycerides may therefore vary within a same oil.

The reactive sites present in a triglyceride are mainly double bonds and ester functions. The reactivity of double bonds allows introduction of hydroxyl functions, thereby allowing access to polyhydroxylated monomers. Nevertheless, it is impossible to obtain triglycerides having perfectly defined structures and functionalities.

The present study provides a method for preparing compounds from vegetable oil, with which the aforementioned drawbacks may be overcome. The research work also attempts to provide a method for preparing compounds derived from vegetable oil, comprising the use of catalysts better fitting environmental expectations than most of the homogeneous catalysts used and which limit the secondary reactions.

Production of Polypropylene Glycol Polyricinoleate, Butanediol Polyricinoleate,Butanediol Polyricinoleate, Butanediol Esters, Butanediol Diesters , Propanediol Esters have been discussed.

Know more about the research work from here – http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2013/0005936.html 

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Zeal Optic’s Sunglass Frame from Castor Derivatives

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US based Zeal Optics, developed its sun glass frames, using a bio-based plastic made from castor bean oil. Zeal Optics uses castor oil to produce Z-ResinTM, which makes up the foundation of their entire line of frames (as opposed to using crude oil, which is what sunglass frames are traditionally made from).

Zeal Optics Castor Plant

The company’s bio based lens,is said to be the first lens of its kind that provides an ecological alternative to crude oil based lenses. Currently ZEAL produces all their sunglass frames with Z‐resin, thus eliminating harmful crude oil from the manufacturing process.

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Texas Researchers Working On Ricin Reduced Castor Seeds

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In 1959, Texas state of US was the country’s leading producer of castor with most of the production centered. However, in the 1970s, castor disappeared from Texas fields with the arrival of low prices and more lucrative crop alternatives. All of the castor used in the United States today is imported from India and a few other countries, but there is a move afoot to possibly revitalize the old crop for a rapidly changing world and agriculture’s role in it.

Dr. Calvin Trostle with Texas AgriLife Extension in Lubbock is part of a team working with castor within the confined and controlled quarters of test plots. He believes that with proper precautions, castor could again be a valuable crop for Texas farmers in part of the state but not all of it. The focus in the current Texas AgriLife program is the southwest quarter of Texas, probably south of I-20 and west of San Angelo.

Texas Tech University researchers have also bred a variety of castor called Brigham, which has reduced the ricin levels of traditional castor lines by 78 to 85 percent. They believe that with the proper funding and a few years of work they can get the levels down to the mid or low single digits by “turning off” the gene that produces the ricin protein.

“It is Texas AgriLife and Texas Tech’s goal that if castor is reintroduced in Texas that the production be highly self-regulated, which would include only distributing, growing, and buying of reduced-ricin castor, and that contractors would work with only this line or others that succeed it,” Trostle said. Currently, Texas AgriLife is developing in-house guidelines on how to handle castor at its research stations and agreements that would be made if the seed were to be transferred to a third party.

Source: http://www.countryworldnews.com/news/headlines/1175–castor-gets-another-look-as-texas-crop.html

Jayant Agro Joins With Mitsui for Castor Oil Based Polyols Manufacturing

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Jayant Agro Organics Ltd, an Indian oleochemical company, have entered into a joint venture agreement with two Japanese firms – Mitsui Chemicals Inc and Itoh Oil Chemicals Co Ltd – for manufacturing castor oil based polyols. The firms are investing in the equity shares of Vithal Castor Polyols Pvt Ltd in the ratio 50:40:10 respectively.

This is a second deal announced by Jayant Agro Organics this year. In April 2013, Jayant Agro entered into an agreement with Arkema, a French chemical company, to form a strategic joint venture through its subsidiary Ihsedu Agrochem Pvt Ltd (Ihsedu). According to the JV agreement, Arkema will acquire around 25% equity stake in Ihsedu. The JV aims to develop castor oil production, which will provide Arkema long term, secure and competitive access to the strategic raw material for the manufacture of its bio-sourced polyamides.

Source: http://t.co/qxeYYTkz1k

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Patent – Dehydrated Castor Oil As An Animal Feed Supplement

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This post discusses an invention which uses dehydrated castor oil  (DCO) as a food supplement to animals. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), as a free fatty acid, has been studied extensively as a probiotic feed supplement for pigs, chickens, and other animals. However, the cost of CLA, in its free fatty acid form is relatively high. The inventors thereby, proposed the way of using dehydrated castor oil as an alternative to CLA. DCO contains 25-30% conjugated linoleic acid triglyceride ester (CLA-TG) and 65-70% “normal” linoleic acid triglyceride ester (LA-TG) (i.e., not conjugated).

The inventor has discovered that when DCO is administered as an additive to an animal feed, one or more of the quality indices of the animal’s meat are improved. For example, for pigs in the finishing phase, the inventor has surprisingly and unexpectedly discovered that when the pigs receive an animal feed composition containing an amount of dehydrated castor oil, at least one of the quality indices of the pig’s meat, namely, the iodine value of the meat, is improved. In the case of such pigs, the significantly lowered iodine value heralds a significantly improved fat firmness in the meat, which, in turn, leads to improved slicing and processing of the resulting meat.

More about the invention from here – https://www.google.co.in/patents/US8445041?dq=CASTOR+SEED&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dNseUqS7GcmHrQf3tIGYAQ&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBDgK

DuPont’s Performance Plastics Line To Contain More Than 50% Renewable Materials

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DuPont, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, says that its performance plastics line will contain more than 50 percent renewable materials within 15 years. The company is exploring new technologies to make chemical monomers for basic plastics like nylon from carbon-based resources that can be rapidly regenerated.

Two of the three renewable materials in DuPont’s current performance plastics portfolio are based on non-food feedstocks. Hytrel comes from plant waste and Zytel RS comes from the castor bean plant.

To know more about the DuPont’s renewble plastics, click here – http://investors.dupont.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73320&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1065535&highlight=

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