Castor seed futures traded marginally higher on NCDEX due to rising demand from consuming industries in the spot market.
The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs. 3963.00 and that for July delivery was trading at 4095.00. The open interest of the contract for July delivery stood at 207290 lots on NCDEX.
Scientists from China performed an experiment to analyze the dynamic surface tension of aqueous solutions of castor oil acid methyl ester ethoxylate. The dynamic surface 
tensions were measured by bubble pressure method. The effect of dynamic surface tension at different concentration, temperature and presence of inorganic electrolyte were investigated.
The results showed that the dynamic surface tension decreases with increase in temperature and increases with increase in inorganic electrolyte concentration.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
An increase in the price of castor seed was observed at the end of the week.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 18 May | 3888 |
| 19 May | 3887.5 |
| 20 May | 3877 |
| 21 May | 3898.5 |
| 22 May | 3925 |
Scientists from Iran performed an experiment to optimize the ultraso
und assisted biodiesel synthesis from castor oil using response surface methodology. Parameters such as reaction time, methanol to oil molar ratio, ultrasonic cycle and ultrasonic amplitude were taken into consideration to optimize the biodiesel synthesis process.
Through RSM analysis, it was found that the reaction time has the most significant effect on the reaction yield.
Researchers from India conducted an optimization study to improve low-temperature properties of chemically modified high free fatty acid castor oil methyl esters. Castor oil fatty acid methyl ester was prepared and epoxidation process was carried out using hydrogen peroxide as oxygen donor and IR-120 as heterogenous acid catalyst.
Response surface methodology was implemented to optimize the epoxidation process. The results showed that epoxide blended with COFAME showed an improved pour point compared with pure epoxide.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
An increase in the price of castor seed was observed at the end of the week.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 11 May | 3734.1 |
| 12 May | 3738.35 |
| 13 May | 3759.8 |
| 14 May | 3787.4 |
| 15 May | 3810.7 |
Castor seed price has increased due to increase in demand and short supply. The supply of castor seed has declined in the past one week. In Gujarat, castor seeds were priced at Rs. 795-805 per 20 kg. In Saurashtra, it was priced at Rs. 775-785 per 20 kg.
On the NCDEX and RCX, the castor seed futures declined while there was an increase in the castor spot prices on RCX.
Scientists from India conducted an experiment to prepare functionalized castor oil derivatives with tunable physical properties by using heterogeneous acid and base catalysts. Epoxidized castor oil (ECO) was used as a raw material to prep
are the different functionalized castor oil derivatives namely ring-opened glyceryl ricinoleates, epoxy alkyl ricinoleates, and ring-opened alkyl ricinoleates, using two chemical reactions, ring opening and transesterification.
Among several acid catalysts screened, Amberlyst 15 showed maximum conversion for ring opening of ECO with methanol. By using CaAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) derived oxides as base catalyst, maximum yield of epoxy alkyl ricinoleates were obtained through transesterification of ECO. The physical properties of these derivatives can be used to design tailor-make material for industrial needs.
Researchers from Spain performed an experiment to analyze the thickening properties of NCO-functionalized cellulose derivatives in castor oil. Cellulose derivatives were initially functionalized with NCO and subsequently dispersed in castor oil to form oleogels. The oleogels were rheologically investigated and gel microstr
ucture was determined.
Results showed that cellulose derivatives after NCO functionalization showed reduced thermal resistance but the oleogels showed increased thermal resistance. The difference in rheological properties is based on the balance between polar and non-polar groups in the biopolymer structure and the size of these substituents.
Researchers from China conducted an experiment to analyze the effect of ionic liquids on the enzymatic transesterification of ethyl ferulate (EF) with castor oil. Three kinds of ionic liquids (BF4—, PF6— and TF2N—) were used for the experiment.
Of the three kinds of imidazolium ionic liquids, EMIMPF6 exhibited the highest ethyl ferulate conversion and showed excellent reaction selectivity for lipophilic castor oil based feruloylated mono- and di-acylglycerols (FMAGs and FDAGs) formation.