Stillingia tallow or Chinese vegetable tallow is a fatty substance extracted from the coat of the seeds of ''

Triadica sebifera ''Triadica sebifera'' is a tree native to eastern China. It is commonly called Chinese tallow, Chinese tallowtree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree, or candleberry tree. The seeds (as well as from those of '' Triadica cochinchine ...

'' (Chinese tallow tree) or ''

Triadica cochinchinensis ''Triadica cochinchinensis'' is a species of tree known as the mountain tallow tree. The seeds (as well as from those of ''Triadica sebifera'') are the sources of stillingia oil, a drying oil used in paints and varnishes. The fatty coat of the s ...

'' (Mountain tallow tree). It has traditionally been used for making

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

s. This product must be distinguished from

stillingia oil Stillingia oil is an oil extracted (by solvents) from the seeds of plants of the ''Triadica'' genus such as ''Triadica sebifera'' (Chinese tallow tree) and ''Triadica cochinchinensis'' (Mountain tallow tree). It is a drying oil used in paints and v ...

, that is extracted from the seeds of those trees. The name of the substance was given when the two plants were classified in the genus ''

Stillingia ''Stillingia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1767. The genus is native to Latin America, the southern United States, and various islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Toothleaf ...

'', with

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

s "''Stillingia sebifera''" and "''Stillingia discolor''". Sometime prior to 1950 the species were reclassified in the genus ''

Sapium ''Sapium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the ...

'', and articles from the 1950s still use the names "''Sapium sebiferum''" and "''Sapium discolor''" However, since about 2002 the plants have been reclassified again in the genus ''

Triadica ''Triadica'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most sp ...

'', and the second one had its species name changed to "''cochinchinensis''". The fruit of ''T. sebifera'' has a characteristic trilobed shape and contains three seeds surrounded by a fibrous waxy coating, which contains the vegetable tallow fat. The seeds produce 20-30% w/w of tallow fat and 10-17% w/w of stillingia oil.

Composition

Stillingia tallow is essentially a mixture of triglycerides (esters of

glycerol Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...

and

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). The main triglycerides are glicerotriyl tri

palmitate Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The Li ...

(5-30%) and 2- oleate,1,3-dipalmitate (~70%).

Uses

The "tallow" is reported to be edible, and may have applications in confectionery. However, it is not commonly used for that purpose; and the risk of contamination by the seed oil, which is toxic, is a possible concern.

References

S. A. Narang and Sadgopal (1958): "Indian stillingia oil and tallow". ''Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society'', volume 35, issue 2, pages 68-71. Hans-Joachim Esser (2002)
"A revision of ''Triadica'' Lour. (Euphorbiaceae)"
''Harvard Papers in Botany'', volume 7, issue 1, pages 17-21 (5 pages) B. S. J. Jeffrey F. B. Padley (1991): "Chinese vegetable tallow - Characterization and contamination by stillingia oil". ''Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society'', A. Crossley and T. P. Hilditch (1953): "The component glycerides of stillingia oil". ''Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture'', volume 4, pages 38–44, Candles Vegetable oils {{vegetable-oil-stub