Crops Crambe (Crambe abyssinica)

Further Information



To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
Crops for Bulk Chemicals : Crops for Fine Chemicals : Crops for Paints/Coatings/Plastics

Common Name	CRAMBE
Latin binomial	Crambe abyssinica
Plant family	|Brassicaceae

Crambe species originate from the Mediterranean region, Southwest Asia and Ethiopia; some may be familiar in different contexts, such as C. maritima (seakale) and C. cordifolia, a showy ornamental. As a potential arable crop, C. abyssinica has been of interest since the 1 930s, the interest centring on the seed oil, of which 55-60 percent is in the form of erucic acid. Derivatives of erucic acid are used in slip agents, plasticisers, lubricants and industrial nylons and as fixatives for perfumes, while the excellent heat-transference properties of Crambe oil at high temperatures render it particularly suitable as a lubricant in steel casting. A disadvantage of using Crambe is that the seeds are enclosed in husks, which must be removed before crushing; the protein-rich meal contains glucosinolates and other anti-nutritional substances which reduce its potential rate of inclusion in animal feeds. Much of the more recent development has taken place in the Netherlands and also the USA, where some 20,000 ha have been grown in recent years.

This entry forms part of the publication Crops for Industry and Energy in Europe

References:

Chisholm, C J (Ed) (1994) Towards a UK Research Strategy for Alternative Crops. Silsoe: Silsoe Research Institute.

Janick, J & Simon, J E (Eds) (1990) Advances in New Crops. Proceedings of the First National Symposium on New Crops: Research, Development, Economics. Portland: Timber Press.

Langer, R H M & Hill, G D (1991) Agricultural Plants (2nd Edn) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robellen, G, Downey, K R & Ashri, A (Eds) (1989) Oil Crops of the World: their Breeding and Utilisation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Siegler, D S (Ed) (1977) Crop Resources. New York: Academic Press.

Industrial Crops and Products. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B V

Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society. Champaign: AOCS Press.

Relevant EC funded projects:
AIR-2480
AIR-0198
AGRE-0046