oil plant

oil plant

botany
      any of the numerous plants, either under cultivation or growing wild, used as sources of oil. Oil plants include trees such as palm, herbaceous plants such as flax, and even fungi (Fusarium).

      Vegetable oils are used principally for food (mostly as shortening, margarines, and salad and cooking oils) and in the manufacture of soap and detergents, in paints and varnishes, and for a variety of other industrial items.

      Oil is found in large amounts usually in the seeds of the plants and occasionally in the fleshy part of the fruit, as in the olive and the oil palm. Seeds may contain from 1 percent to more than 60 percent oil. The oil is a reserve of high-energy food for use by the germinating seed, and large amounts of oil are associated with large amounts of protein. After the oil is extracted from the oilseeds, the residual meal, or cake, remaining is so important a by-product that it frequently determines the value of an oil crop. Usually this meal is used as a protein concentrate to feed livestock and poultry; if it is poisonous, as with castor beans and tung nuts, it is used as fertilizer.

      Most of the important oil crops, including the oil palm, the castor bean, and the coconut palm, grow in tropical and semitropical areas, particularly the tropical areas of West and Central Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. In cool, temperate regions, the oil crops are soybean, flax, sunflower, and plants of the mustard family. Most oil plants, with the exception of herbs such as mint, are not readily adaptable to mechanical cultivation. The oil palm produces the most oil per acre of any crop.

      Several oils, such as cottonseed oil and corn oil, are by-products of other industries. Even weed seeds removed from cereal grain in large terminal elevators may be processed for their oil, particularly wild radish and wild mustard.

      Oil has been obtained from plants since the beginning of recorded history for oil-burning lamps and for anointing and cooking. castor oil was used as a lubricant for wheels of carts and wagons before the petroleum era. In the 19th century, margarine was developed in France as a substitute for butter. During the 20th century, the production of vegetable oils has grown to more than 100 billion pounds annually. Edible oils that are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid have become popular, particularly in the United States, since the 1950s, and this has stimulated interest in sunflower, safflower, and corn oils. See also oil extraction.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • oil plant — Benne Ben ne, n. [Malay bijen.] (Bot.) The name of two plants ({Sesamum orientale} and {Sesamum indicum}), originally Asiatic; also called {oil plant}. From their seeds an oil is expressed, called {benne oil} or {sesame oil}, used mostly for… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • oil-plant — /oyl plant /, n. any of several plants, as the castor oil plant or sesame, the seeds of which yield an oil. [1840 50] * * * …   Universalium

  • oil plant — noun : a plant that yields oil: as a. : sesame b. : castor oil plant …   Useful english dictionary

  • oil-plant — /oyl plant /, n. any of several plants, as the castor oil plant or sesame, the seeds of which yield an oil. [1840 50] …   Useful english dictionary

  • oil-plant — n. Sesame, benne, oily grain (Sesamum) …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • Castor oil plant — Taxobox name = Castor oil plant image width = 240px image caption = Castor bean in disturbed area regnum = Plantae phylum = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Malpighiales familia = Euphorbiaceae subfamilia = Acalyphoideae tribus =… …   Wikipedia

  • Narva Oil Plant — (Estonian: Narva Õlitehas), a subsidiary of Eesti Energia, is a producer of shale oil from oil shale. It operates a commercial scale shale oil retorting plant, located in Narva, Estonia. Contents 1 History 2 Description …   Wikipedia

  • CASTOR-OIL PLANT — (Heb. קִיקָיוֹן, kikayon), the kikayon in the shade of which the prophet Jonah sat outside Nineveh after his prophecy concerning that city s destruction had not been fulfilled. He was glad of the shade, but God prepared a worm that attacked the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • castor-oil plant — /kas teuhr oyl , kah steuhr / a tall plant, Ricinus communis, of the spurge family, cultivated for its ornamental foliage and having poisonous seeds that are the source of castor oil. Also called castor bean. [1835 45] * * * Large plant (Ricinus… …   Universalium

  • madia oil plant — n. The {Madia sativa}, a South American herb with sticky glandular foliage, the source of madia oil. See {Madia}. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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