CRUZ E SILVA, Yago Mateus Gomes da.
Abstract:
The cultivation of the castor bean (Ricinus Communis L.) is the current scenario of the northeastern semiarid, as one of the most versatile, profitable and promising crops. From the castor fruit, castor oil is obtained as the main product, stable under various conditions of pressure and temperature. This oil is extracted from the seeds of castor bean composed of 90.2% of ricinoleic acid, 4.4% of linoleic acid and 2.2% of oleic acid. It presents a lot of versatility within the chemical industry and in the health area. In the health area it is traditionally known as laxative agent when administered orally. Its main mechanism of action is membrane disruption due to the detergent action of diglycerides and triglycerides present in the oil. It can also be used as the basis for the manufacture of cosmetics and many kinds of pharmaceutical drugs. This work is a bibliographical review where it is focused on the study of the applicability of castor oil in the pharmaceutical industry, forms of extraction, and its composition.
