The processing of new oilseed crops - An economic evaluation

The economics of pilot- to large-scale processing of the new oilseed crops Crambe abyssinica, Euphorbia lagascae, and Dimorphotheca pluvialis into oil, fatty acids, or esters were estimated. It was found that the processing costs for Crambe seed to oil is in the same range as that for rapeseed (similar to 0.5 U.S. $/kg). Production of fatty acid esters from vernolic and dimorphecolic acids requires some special downstream processing operations that result in processing costs of about 1 U.S. $/kg ester. Good-quality Dimorphotheca oil is much more difficult to obtain and requires supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Processing costs can be as high as 4 U.S. $/kg oil.