Objective: Castor (Ricinuscommunis L.) is an industrial oilseed that belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. Castor is believed to be originated in East Africa probably Ethiopia. Although Ethiopia is known as a primary diversity for castor the knowledge on nature and extent of variation of the indigenous germplasm is limited. The present test was conducted to study the nature and extent o...

This paper carried out experimental study, through extraction and characterization of both crude and refined castor oil. Normal hexane was used as solvent for the extraction process. The oil produced was refined through degumming, neutralization and bleaching process using local adsorbent (activated clay). The characterization analysis revealed that tested parameters, which include specific gra...

The intrinsic membrane proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum from endosperm of maturing and germinated seedlings of castor bean (Ricinus communis) were studied. Preparations were simultaneously subjected to two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. At least 30 separate proteins were distinguished by staining the gels with Coomassie R-250. The characteristic protein profiles obtained f...

Extracts from several species and varieties of ungerminated cotton seeds plus homogenates from 18 other oilseeds (representing 11 different families) were examined for malate synthase and isocitrate lyase activity. Malate synthase activities in the various cotton seeds ranged from 35 to 129% of the units per dry seed weight found in Deltapine 16 cotton. For other oilseeds, the range was from 0....

Cat's claw (Doxantha unguis-cati L.) vine accumulates nearly 80% palmitoleic acid (16:1Delta9) plus cis-vaccenic acid (18:1Delta11) in its seed oil. To characterize the biosynthetic origin of these unusual fatty acids, cDNAs for acyl-acyl carrier protein (acyl-ACP) desaturases were isolated from developing cat's claw seeds. The predominant acyl-ACP desaturase cDNA identified encoded a polypepti...

The castor seed contains ricin, which is one of the most potent biological toxins and is widely considered to be a threat agent for bioterrorism. In this study, a rapid and sensitive PCR method was applied to the detection of castor contamination in milk and liquid egg samples. The targeting gene sequence of the primer set, Ricin-F4/R4, was not found in either the bovine or chicken genome. Prim...

Ricinoleic acid, a hydroxylated fatty acid (HFA) present in castor ( Ricinus communis) seeds, is an important industrial commodity used in products ranging from inks and paints to polymers and fuels. However, due to the deadly toxin ricin and allergens also present in castor, it would be advantageous to produce ricinoleic acid in a different agricultural crop. Unfortunately, repeated efforts at...

Malic enzymes (ME) catalyze the decarboxylation of malate generating pyruvate, CO2 and NADH or NADPH. In some organisms it has been established that ME is involved in lipids biosynthesis supplying carbon skeletons and reducing power. In this work we studied the MEs of soybean and castor, metabolically different oilseeds. The comparison of enzymatic activities, transcript profiles and organic ac...