Castor oil

 Castor oil 

Castor oil is beautiful. Not in the traditional sense. But because of its many applications. You can use it in cosmetics. You can use it in adhesives. You can use it as a lubricant. You could even use it as a laxative, believe it or not. It’s really quite something. But that’s not it. India has a special connection with castor oil because we have a virtual monopoly in the segment.

In fact, the country exports roughly ₹6,000 crores worth of castor oil and castor-oil related products annually. That’s 85–90% of the total global supply. And we have this kind of influence because we are the only country that grows the key raw material — castor seeds, in such large numbers.

Castor oil is a vegetable oil made from the seed of the castor beans through a cold-pressing process. It has unique taste, odour & very pale yellow liquid.

It has a sticky texture, gifted by nature and thick inconsistency.  Can be used by both vegetarian and non-vegetarian eaters. 

The boiling point of castor oil is 313°C (595°F) and density is 961 kg/m³.

Widely, castor oils are produced 270,000–360,000 tonnes annually for a variety of uses. 

History

In the 18th century, the name “castor” was given to the plant by an English trader who got confused with another plant/shrub “Vitex Agnus” (also known as Castus – a Latin adjective meaning morally pure or guiltless).

Portuguese and  Spanish in Jamaica (a Caribbean island nation) called agno-casto

Castor Oil is Gifted by Nature

This oil is one among the cold-pressed oil and vegetable oil. They are available in our country easily and advised to use for many purposes. Thereby it can be called as multi-purposeful oil.