Cuphea oil is

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

pressed from the seeds of several species of the genus ''

Cuphea ''Cuphea'' is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbaceous plants to semi-woody shrubs up to tall. Com ...

''. Interest in cuphea oils is relatively recent, as a source of

medium-chain triglyceride Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are triglycerides with two or three fatty acids having an aliphatic tail of 6–12 carbon atoms, i.e. medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Rich food sources for commercial extraction of MCTs include palm kernel oil a ...

s like those found in

coconut oil frameless , right , alt = A cracked coconut and a bottle of coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut butter) is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat; in warmer climates duri ...

and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

. 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

is included for comparison: These oils are also valuable as sources of single

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, fr ...

s. ''C. painteri'', for example, is rich in

caprylic acid Caprylic acid (), also known under the systematic name octanoic acid or C8 Acid, is a saturated fatty acid, medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA). It has the structural formula , and is a colorless oily liquid that is minimally soluble in water with a s ...

(73%), where ''C. carthagenensis'' oil consists of 81%

lauric acid Lauric acid, systematically dodecanoic acid, is a saturated fatty acid with a 12-carbon atom chain, thus having many properties of medium-chain fatty acids. It is a bright white, powdery solid with a faint odor of bay oil or soap. The salts and es ...

. ''C. koehneana'' oil may be the richest natural source of a single fatty acid, with 95% of its content consisting of

capric acid Capric acid, also known as decanoic acid or decylic acid, is a saturated fatty acid, medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA), and carboxylic acid. Its formula is CH3(CH2)8COOH. Salts and esters of decanoic acid are called caprates or decanoates. The term ...

References

Vegetable oils {{vegetable-oil-stub