Castor Oil Extraction: Methods and Impacts

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an overview of castor (Ricinus communis L.) plant characteristics, cultivation, seed harvest, reception, and pretreatment, and oil extraction, refinement, storage, and physicochemical properties, composition, and uses. It focuses on various traditional and novel methods of castor oil extraction and their optimization, kinetics, thermodynamics, and techno-economic, environmental, and social issues. Generally, novel techniques proved higher oil yield in a shorter time than conventional ones. The hybrid ultrasound-microwave-assisted extraction provided the highest oil yield, whereas supercritical CO₂ extraction showed no effect. The composition and properties of castor oil depend on not only extraction methods but also geographical origin, climate, soil, cultivar, and harvest time. The future perspective involves utilizing the entire biomass in a biorefinery to maximize the value of oil, seed cake, and waste residues. Castor oil production offers opportunities for sustainable development, but challenges must be addressed to ensure sustainability and social responsibility throughout the production process.

KEYWORDS:

• Castor seed cake
• Ricinus communis L.
• cultivation
• seed pretreatment
• oil extraction

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Republic of Serbia - Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation (Programs for financing scientific research: 451-03-9/2023-14/200155 assigned to the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Kosovska Mitrovica, and 451-03-47/2023-01/200032 assigned to the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad), and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) (Project F-78).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Credit author statement

Jelena M. Avramović: Investigation, Writing – Original Draft; Ana M. Marjanović Jeromela: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft, Visualization; Miljana S. Krstić: Investigation, Writing – Original Draft, Visualization; Biljana M. Kiprovski: Investigation, Writing – Original Draft; Ana V. Veličković: Investigation, Writing – Original Draft; Dragana D. Rajković: Investigation, Writing – Original Draft; Vlada B. Veljković: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Ministarstvo Prosvete, Nauke i Tehnološkog Razvoja [451-03-47/2023-01/200032]; Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts [F-78].