The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the south-eastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides of ricinoleic acid, 12 hydroxy oleic acid. The Indian variety of castor seed has an oil content of 48% but only 42% can be extracted. The seed contains ricin, a toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant and therefore castor oil is inedible.
India is known as the world leader in castor seed and oil production and leads the international castor oil trade. Castor oil production in this country usually fluctuates between 250,000 and 350,000 tons per year. Castor is one of the oldest cultivated crops; however, it contributes to only 0.15% of the vegetable oil produced in the world. The oil produced from this crop is considered to be of importance to the global specialty chemical industry because it is the only commercial source of a hydroxylated fatty acid.
Few Indian major players are as under:
· A W N Agro Pvt. Ltd.
· Adya Oils & Chemicals Ltd.
· Balaji Agro Inds. Ltd.
· Biotor Industries Ltd.
· Ihsedu Agrochem Pvt. Ltd.
· India Castor Ltd.
· Jayant Agro-Organics Ltd.
· Kalyani Refineries Ltd.