Cuphea oil is oil pressed from the seeds of several species of the genus Cuphea. Interest in cuphea oils is relatively recent, as a source of medium-chain triglycerides like those found in coconut oil and palm oil. Cuphea oil is of interest because it grows in climates where palms - the source of both of these oils - do not grow.
The fatty acid content of cuphea oils are as follows. The composition of coconut oil is included for comparison:[1]
Species
Caprylic
Capric
Lauric
Myristic
Other
C. painteri
73.0%
20.4%
0.2%
0.3%
6.1%
C. hookeriana
65.1%
23.7%
0.1%
0.2%
10.9%
C. koehneana
0.2%
95.3%
1.0%
0.3%
3.2%
C. lanceolata
87.5%
2.1%
1.4%
9.0%
C. viscosissima
9.1%
75.5%
3.0%
1.3%
11.1%
C. carthagenensis
5.3%
81.4%
4.7%
8.6%
C. laminuligera
17.1%
62.6%
9.5%
10.8%
C. wrightii
29.4%
53.9%
5.1%
11.6%
C. lutea
0.4%
29.4%
37.7%
11.1%
21.4%
C. epilobiifolia
0.3%
19.6%
67.9%
12.2%
C. stigulosa
0.9%
18.3%
13.8%
45.2%
21.8%
Coconut
8.0%
7.0%
48.0%
18.0%
19.0%
These oils are also valuable as sources of single fatty acids. C. painteri, for example, is rich in caprylic acid (73%), where C. carthagenensis oil consists of 81% lauric acid. C. koehneana oil may be the richest natural source of a single fatty acid, with 95% of its content consisting of capric acid.
^Robert Kleiman (1990). "Chemistry of New Industrial Oilseed Crops". Advances in New Crops: 196–203. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
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