Uses of Castor Oil

The uses of castor oil have changed over the years. Many years ago, castor oil was primarily used for medicinal purposes and as a general industrial lubricant. Later, chemical engineers were able to produce derivatives of the oil that found many more uses. Sulfonated (sulfated) castor oil, or Turkey Red Oil , was the first synthetic detergent  after ordinary soap, and other forms of the oil became important for the treatment of leather, industrial lubricants, and other industrial uses. Today, chemical engineers have come up with many uses of castor oil and its derivatives such as: Polyamide 11 (Nylon 11) engineering plastic , lubricating grease, coatings, inks, sealant, aircraft lubricants, surfactants , emulsifiers , encapsulants, plastic films, plasticizer for coatings, and components for shatterproof safety glass. Castor oil has even made its way into cosmetics and related products due to its non comedogenicity . Thus, castor oil and its derivatives have become an important commodity to the chemical industry.

 The chemical structure of castor oil affords a wide range of reactions to the oleochemical industry and the unique chemicals that can be derived from it. These derivatives are on par with petrochemical products  for use in several industrial applications. In fact, they are considerably superior since they are from renewable sources, bio-degradable and eco-friendly.

 Castor Oil is regarded as one of the most valuable laxatives ( in medicine. Castor Oil forms a clean, light-colored soap, which dries and hardens well and is free from smell. Externally, the oil has been recommended for various cutaneous complaints. Castor Oil is an excellent solvent of pure alkaloids  and such solutions of Atropine, Cocaine, etc., as are used in ophthalmic surgery. It is also dropped into the eye to remove the after-irritation caused by the removal of foreign bodies.

 Castor Oil is finding increasing uses in the industrial world. Castor oil has been used in skin care products for centuries, and it continues to play an important part in the production of soaps and cosmetics. It figures largely in the manufacture of the artificial leather used in upholstery; it furnishes a coloring for butter, and from it is produced the so-called Turkey-Red Oil  used in the dyeing of cotton textures. It is an essential component in some artificial rubbers, in various descriptions of celluloid , and in the making of certain waterproof preparations, and one of the largest uses is in the manufacture of transparent soaps . It also furnishes sebacic acid which is employed in the manufacture of candles, and caprylic acid , which enters into the composition of varnishes. Castor oil is also a source of glycerine, and the combination of glycerine and hydroxy fatty acids makes it an excellent emollient and pigment carrier.

Even its stem finds use, since the stems are made into paper and wallboard.

Folk Medicine

Considered anodyne, antidote, aperient, bactericide, cathartic, cyanogenetic, discutient, emetic, emollient, expectorant, insecticide, lactagogue, larvicidal, laxative, poison, purgative, tonic, and vermifuge, castor or castoroil has been an ingredient in folk remedies for abscess, anasarca, arthritis, asthma, boils, burns, cancer, carbuncles, catarrh, chancre, cholera, cold, colic, convulsions, corns, craw-craw, deafness, delirium, dermatitis, dogbite, dropsy, epilepsy, erysipelas, fever, flu, gout, guineaworm, headache, inflammation, moles, myalgia, nerves, osteomyelitis, palsy, parturition, prolapse, puerperium, rash, rheumatism, scald, scrofula, seborrhea, skin, sores, stomachache, strabismus, swellings, toothaches, tuberculosis, tumors, urethritis, uteritis, venereal disease, warts, whitlows, and wounds! The oil and seed have been used as folk remedies for: warts, cold tumors, indurations of the abdominal organs, whitlows, lacteal tumors, indurations of the mammary gland, corns, and moles, etc. Castor-oil is a cathartic and has labor-inducing properties.

Castor Oil & Castor Oil Derivatives Uses - Summary

 Details of area of use & the castor products used in that area.