At present, the major castor markets are the USA, China, Russia, Japan and the European community countries [ 5 ]. Production and percentage share of castor seed by major producing countries (in 1000 tonnes) India being the largest producer of castor seeds, it also heavily dominates in castor oil production worldwide.
Is castor oil a green bio-resource?
The worldwide increase in the production of castor seeds and castor oil testifies the huge potential as a green bio-resource for chemical transformations because castor oil can be used as the starting material for producing a wide range of end-products. Ogunniyi DS (2006) Castor oil: a vital industrial raw material.
Can castor oil be used as a bio-resource?
Despite this huge potential, very little has recently been reviewed on the use of castor oil as a bio-resource in the production of functional materials. This review therefore highlights the potential of castor oil in the production of these diverse materials with their projected global market potential.
Which country produces the most castor seeds in the world?
Castor plant ( a) and castor seeds ( b) The world castor seed production has increased from 1.055 million tons in 2003 to 1.440 million tons in 2013 with India being the leading producer and accounts for over 75 % of the total production followed by China and Brazil each accounting for 12.5 and 5.5 % respectively (Fig. 2) [ 4 ].