ARS | Publication request: Synthesis of Hydroxy Acids and Hydroxy Triglycerides from Milkweed Oil

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 28, 2000
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The milkweed plant Asclepias syriaca produces seed rich in oil. The present economics of this new industrial crop is based on the seed floss, a fine silky fiber which originally adapted the seed for wind dispersal but has found market demand as a hypoallergenic material in pillows and comforters. In a continuing effort to improve the economics of the plant, we are looking at developing coproducts of not only the fiber and meal but the oil as well. This project targets modification of milkweek oil in order to generate at least two type of products, hydroxy triglycerols and hydroxy fatty acids. This is being accomplished through synthetic manipulation of the chemistry of the olefinic functional groupings in the triglyceride molecules. Products from the initial work are undergoing testing for industrial applications by one of our collaborators.