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