Alternative Vegetable Oils

Many species of plants produce seeds containing fats - these fats are used as a food reserve for the developing seedling and they are quite often present in sufficient quantities to make their extraction, in the form of an oil, worthwhile. Vegetable oil has a wide range of uses, and whilst many of these involve processes that are too technical for small scale ventures, there are still many ways in which we can employ them - as a food for example, or as a lubricant, a fuel for paraffin lamps and as a wood preservative.

Oils are often divided into three categories according to their qualities, these categories are non-drying, semi- drying and drying. Non-drying oils are slow to oxidise and so remain liquid for a long time. This quality makes them particularly useful as lubricants and as a fuel for lamps. Drying oils, on the other hand, are quite quick to oxidise and become solid, thus they are often used in paints and varnishes - Linseed oil is a good example of this. Semi-drying oils have qualities intermediate between the above two groups...