Development of New Industrial Oil Crops

Abstract

Unusual fatty acids such as those present in the seed oils of rapeseed, coconut, palm kernel, tung nut and castor bean have been utilized as raw materials since the early days of chemical industry. Up to the present these oils have formed a stable and valuable, although still relatively small, fraction of the world oil market. Changes in agricultural production, diversification of industrial applications and the unreliable supply of mineral oils as petrochemical raw materials prompted a first search for new potential oilseed crops in 1959 by the USDA. But it took until the 1970's before interest increased to intensify agronomic investigations in the production of selected desired plant species. This report summarizes over 12 years of research on the domestication of Cuplua, a herbaceous summer annual taxon native to Central America, which in its seed oils contains large amounts of medium-chain fatty acids with 8, 10 or 12 C atoms. In addition, the report deals with investigations to select new potential oilseed crops for European production of unusual fatty acids, i.e. delta-6,7 monoenoic, conjugated, acetylenic, hydroxy, and epoxy fatty acid.s. ln general, the existing experience supports the conclusion that today various options of biotechnology exist for breeding plant varieties with improved yield and performance, and in particular, for developing new industrial oil crops.