International Castor Oil Association
Committed to growing, processing, trading, marketing and/or consuming Castor Oil
Castor News
2024 Annual General Meeting
The 2024 ICOA Annual General Meeting will be held 14-16 May in Istanbul, Turkey.The meeting is a member only event. If you are interested in
About ICOA
The International Castor Oil Association (ICOA) is an organization whose members are involved in growing, processing, trading, marketing and/or consuming Castor Oil. The main aspirations of the ICOA are the improvement in the agronomic conditions of castor beans, the development of new applications for castor oil and its derivatives and the dissemination of information to its members and the industries they serve.
About Castor
Castor can be grown on almost all types of well drained soils. It adapts well to arid and semi-arid climate, but cold & temperate regions are not suitable for profitable castor cultivation. Castor is grown in countries such as India, Brazil and China. Since the 1980’s, India commands the leading market share of over 88%. China has around 6% share followed by Brazil at 3%.
Manufacturing
Castor oil is extracted either by hot pressing or cold pressing to extract the initial oil content. The remaining oil content is extracted using a solvent extraction technique typically involving n-hexane as the solvent. The oil is refined and packed for dispatch in liquid form. The leftover extracted solid is known as de-oiled cake.
Toxicity
Castor beans, contain a toxic enzyme called ricin. However, the heating process that castor oil undergoes deactivates it, allowing the oil to be used safely. Castor oil has a number of medicinal, industrial and pharmaceutical uses. Today, castor oil remains a popular natural treatment for common conditions like constipation and skin ailments and is commonly used in natural beauty products.
ICOA Initiatives
Learn about our recent initiatives including:
- ICOA Specifications for castor oil and derivatives
- Detoxification of Castor Cake
- Sustainable Castor Farming
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- News
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- Meeting Dates
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Upcoming Events
The ICOA 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.
This event is open to members only. If you are interested in becoming a member of the ICOA please click on the “Membership” tab.