New oilseed crops on the horizon

• Published in: Economic botany Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 478 - 492
• Main Author: Princen, L. H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The New York Botanical Garden 01-10-1983
• Subjects: Canola; Chemical composition; Crop economics; Crop production; Fatty acids; Glucosinolates; Hydroxy acids; Oilseed crops; Plants; Seeds; Symposium: The United States Oilseed Industry from Germplasm to Utilization
• ISSN: 0013-0001; 1874-9364
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02904214

Fats and oils for food uses are now plentiful on a worldwide basis. Tallow, lard and fish oils, as well as vegetable oils, such as those derived from soybean, sunflower, palm, rapeseed, peanut and cottonseed, are often overproduced. Although many of these products are also used for industrial chemicals, they often are not of the most favorable composition for nonfood applications. A search for new oilseed crops with more advantageous oil composition has led to the development of excellent candidates that are now close to commercial acceptance. Among them are Crambe, Limnanthes, Vernonia, Sapium and Simmondsia. Other crops are at a much lower stage of development but also have excellent potential. They include Cuphea, Foeniculum, Stokesia, Lesquerella and Lunaria. In this age of searching for renewable resources to replace petrochemicals and imported strategic materials, a well-organized research and development program on new oilseed crops could soon result in American self-sufficiency for industrial oils and fatty acids.