Kenaf Seed Oil Health Benefits – Nutritional Value, Side Effects

Kenaf Seed Oil (Hibiscus cannabinus), is a plant in the family Malvaceae also called Deccan hemp and Java juteHibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is native to southern Asia, though its exact origin is unknown. The name also applies to the fibre obtained from this plant. Kenaf is one of the allied fibres of jute and shows similar characteristics.

Kenaf seed oil uses and benefits Quick Facts
Name: Kenaf seed oil uses and benefits
Scientific Name: Hibiscus cannabinus
Origin Native to Africa and India.
Health benefits Treat bilious conditions, bruises, puerperium and fever

Kenaf scientifically known as Hibiscus cannabinus belongs to the Malvaceae family which is a valuable fiber plant inherent to Africa and India. This plant has active components such as saponins, tannins, alkaloids, polyphenolics, steroids, and essential oils. It is used in India and Africa in traditional folk medicine. The seeds are used to extract oil that is edible for human consumption. This oil possesses alpha-linolenic acid that is an essential omega-3 fatty acid that possesses antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory properties. This oil possesses phytosterol that has anti-oxidant, anticancer, and lipid-lowering cholesterol properties. It is extracted by using organic solvents such as petroleum or n-hexane.

Kenaf seed oil facts

Name Kenaf seed oil uses and benefits
Scientific Name of Kenaf Hibiscus cannabinus
Native Native to Africa and India.
Common/English Name of Kenaf Java jute, Deccan hemp, Bimli, Ambari Hemp, Ambary, Bimlipatum Jute, Deccan Hemp
Name in Other Languages of Kenaf French: chanvre du Deccan, chanvre de Guinée, chanvre de Gambo, Jute de Java, chanvre de roselle, Jute de Siam, ketmie à feuilles de chanvre, roselle, kénaf;
German: Ambari, Gambohanf, Dekkanhanf, Hanfeibisch, Kenaf, Javajute, Rosellahanf, Siamjute, Roselle;
Spanish: cáñamo de la India, cáñamo Rosella, cáñamo de gambo, pavona encendida, yute de Siam, yute de Java
Portuguese: cânhamo rosella, juta-do-sião, juta-de-java, quenafe;
Brazilian Portuguese: papoula-de-são-francisco, quenafe, cânhamo-brasileiro;
Egypt & Northern Africa: til, teal, teel;
Afrikaans: stokroos;
Himachal(Pangolu): sunn;
West Africa: dah, rama, gambo;
India:
Manipur: Shougri;
Bengal: mesta;
Bihari: Kudrum;
Marathi: Ambaadi;
Telugu: Gongura, Punti Kura, Taag-Ambadi;
Tamil: Palungu (பலுஂகு), pulicha keerai (புளிச்சைக் கீரை);
Taiwan: ambari;
Iran (Persian): Kanaf (کنف);
Extraction method Supercritical fluid extraction, Soxhlet extraction

History

Kenaf is native to Africa and India. Kenaf is used as a cordage crop for the production of rope, twine, and sackcloth for more than six millennia. Firstly it was domesticated in Northern Africa. It was produced and used for the last two hundred years in India. In 1902, it was produced by Russia and in 1935 by China. During World War II, the production of Kenaf was started in the United States for the supply of cordage material for the war effort. It interrupted the supply of foreign fiber from the Philippines. The involvement in war increases the use of these fibers.

Dried kenaf stems

It is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant (rarely a short-lived perennial) growing to 1.5–3.5 m tall with a woody base. The stems are 1–2 cm in diameter, often but not always branched. The leaves are 10–15 cm long, variable in shape, with leaves near the base of the stems being deeply lobed with 3–7 lobes, while leaves near the top of the stem are shallowly lobed or unlobed lanceolate. The flowers are 8–15 cm in diameter, white, yellow, or purple; when white or yellow, the center is still dark purple. The fruit is a capsule 2 cm diameter, containing several seeds.

Fiber

The fibers in kenaf are found in the bast (bark) and core (wood). The bast constitutes 40% of the plant. “Crude fiber” separated from the bast is multi-cellular, consisting of several individual cells stuck together.[6] The individual fiber cells are about 2–6 mm long and slender. The cell wall is thick (6.3 µm). The core is about 60% of the plant and has thick (≈38 µm) but short (0.5 mm) and thin-walled (3 µm) fiber cells.[7] Paper pulp is produced from the whole stem, and therefore contains two types of fibers, from the bast and from the core. The pulp quality is similar to that of hardwood.

Traditional uses and health benefits

  • It is used as a treatment for bilious conditions, bruises, puerperium, and fever.
  • It lowers cholesterol and reduces heart diseases.
  • Kenaf seed oil is increasingly gaining traction for its potential use as biodiesel in a range of industrial and automotive applications. Growing concerns about the deteriorating environmental conditions, coupled with extended government support for research and development of biofuels is estimated to contribute significantly to kenaf seed oil market growth.
  • The presence of an assortment of bioactive compounds in kenaf seed oil such as alkaloids, tannins, essential oils, saponins, steroids, and fatty acids make it a highly-functional bio-oil with potentially diverse health benefits. Additionally, studies have found the existence of a high amount of digestible protein in the kenaf seed oil. The factors make kenaf seed oil a healthy cooking oil alternative. Research on stabilizing kenaf seed oil to increase shelf-life is further expected to underpin its potential usage as edible cooking oil.
  • With high phenolic content, kenaf seed oil offers a lucrative treatment potential for tackling cancer. Numerous studies exploring the potential use of kenaf seed oil in cancer treatment have suggested the bio-oil to be a natural anti-cancer agent. These researches are estimated to aid in the launch of numerous kenaf seed oil-based bio-health cancer treatment options which are likely to bolster kenaf seed oil market growth.
  • The phenolic, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and phytosterol compounds present in kenaf seed oil make it a potential product for use in plant-based drugs to combat cholesterol and high lipid profile in patients. Additionally, its prospective use as a weight control compound is creating a demand for kenaf seed oil in nutraceuticals and the functional food market.
  • Numerous studies working towards substantially bolstering the production of kenaf seeds around the year is a key factor estimated to drive the kenaf seed oil market growth.

Precautions 

  • It should be moderately used.
  • Consult the doctor for use to remain on the safe side.
  • Allergic people should avoid it.
  • Sensitive people might get allergic reactions.

Other Facts

  • It could be used as a biofuel, in cosmetics, or as chemicals.
  • It is used for the production of paints, linoleum, soap, and varnishes.

Uses

Kenaf is cultivated for its fiber in India, Bangladesh, the United States of America, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Viet Nam, Thailand, parts of Africa, and to a small extent in southeast Europe. The stems produce two types of fiber: a coarser fiber in the outer layer (bast fiber), and a finer fiber in the core. The bast fibers are used to make ropes. Kenaf matures in 100 to 200 days. First grown in Egypt over 3000 years ago, the leaves of the kenaf plant were a component of both human and animal diets, while the bast fiber was used for bags, cordage, and the sails for Egyptian boats. This crop was not introduced into southern Europe until the early 1900s. Today, while the principal farming areas are China and India, Kanaf is also grown in countries including the US, Mexico, and Senegal.

The main uses of kenaf fiber have been rope, twine, coarse cloth (similar to that made from jute), and paper. In California, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 3,200 acres (13 km2) of kenaf were grown in 1992, most of which was used for animal bedding and feed.

Uses of kenaf fiber include engineered wood; insulation; clothing-grade cloth; soil-less potting mixes; animal bedding; packing material; and material that absorbs oil and liquids. It is also useful as cut bast fiber for blending with resins in the making of plastic composites, as a drilling fluid loss-preventive for oil drilling muds, and for a seeded hydromulch for erosion control. Kenaf can be made into various types of environmental mats, such as seeded grass mats for instant lawns and moldable mats for manufactured parts and containers. Panasonic has set up a plant in Malaysia to manufacture kenaf fiber boards and export them to Japan.

Additionally, as part of an overall effort to make vehicles more sustainable, Ford and BMW are making the material for the automobile bodies in part from kenaf. The first implementation of kenaf within a Ford vehicle was in the 2013 Ford Escape.[8] The BMW i3 uses kenaf in the black surrounds.[9]

The use of kenaf is anticipated to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin per year in North America and should reduce the weight of the door bolsters by 25 percent.

Reported in 2021, Kenaf Ventures, an Israeli company, is developing and producing sustainable raw materials made from the kenaf plant (Hibiscus cannabinus) in an effort to decarbonize the construction sector without reducing product quality.[10]

Kenaf seed oil

Kenaf seeds yield edible vegetable oil. The kenaf seed oil is also used for cosmetics, industrial lubricants and for biofuel production. Kenaf oil is high in omega polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Kenaf seed oil contains a high percentage of linoleic acid (Omega-6) a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Linoleic acid (C18:2) is the dominant PUFA, followed by oleic acid (C18:1). Alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3) is present in 2 to 4 percent.

Kenaf seed oil is 20.4% of the total seed weight, similar to that of cotton seed.[citation needed] Kenaf Edible Seed Oil Contains:

  • Palmitic acid: 19.1%
  • Oleic acid: 28.0% (Omega-9)
  • Linoleic acid: 45% (Omega-6)
  • Stearic acid: 3.0%
  • Alpha-linolenic acid: 3% (Omega-3)

Kenaf paper[edit]

The most common process to make kenaf paper is using soda pulping before processing the obtained pulp in a paper machine.

The use of kenaf in paper production offers various environmental advantages over producing paper from trees. In 1960, the USDA surveyed more than 500 plants and selected kenaf as the most promising source of tree-free newsprint. In 1970, kenaf newsprint produced in the International Paper Company’s mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was successfully used by six U.S. newspapers. Printing and writing paper made from the fibrous kenaf plant has been offered in the United States since 1992. Again in 1987, a Canadian mill produced 13 rolls of kenaf newsprint which were used by four U.S. newspapers to print experimental issues. They found that kenaf newsprint[11] made for stronger, brighter and cleaner pages than standard pine paper with less detriment to the environment. Due partly to kenaf fibres being naturally whiter than tree pulp, less bleaching is required to create a brighter sheet of paper. Hydrogen peroxide, an environmentally-safe bleaching agent that does not create dioxin, has been used with much success in the bleaching of kenaf.

Various reports suggest that the energy requirements for producing pulp from kenaf are about 20 percent less than those for wood pulp, mostly due to the lower lignin content of kenaf. Many of the facilities that now process Southern pine for paper use can be converted to accommodate kenaf.[citation needed]

An area of 1-acre (4,000 m2) of kenaf produces 5 to 8 tons of raw plant bast and core fibre in a single growing season. In contrast, 1-acre (4,000 m2) of forest (in the US) produces approximately 1.5 to 3.5 tons of usable fibre per year. It is estimated that growing kenaf on 5,000 acres (20 km2) can produce enough pulp to supply a paper plant having a capacity of 200 tons per day. Over 20 years, 1-acre (4,000 m2) of farmland can produce 10 to 20 times the amount of fiber that 1-acre (4,000 m2) of Southern pine can produce.[12]

As one of the world’s important natural fibres, kenaf is covered by the International Year of Natural Fibres 2009. The first novel to be published using 100% kenaf paper was The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo by Kenn Amdahl (1997, Clearwater Publishing Company). [13]

David Brower, former Executive Director of the Sierra Club, in chapter 8 of his semi-autobiographical environmental book Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Save the Earth (1995, Harper Collins), titled “Forest Revolution,” advocated for kenaf paper use and explained its many advantages over wood pulp. The first edition of the book was printed on kenaf paper.

From Where To Buy

Puritan's Pride Organic Flaxseed Oil, Cold-Pressed, Source of Vegetarian Omega 3-6-9, 16 Fluid Ounce, Pack of 1 (Packaging may vary)
7,978 Reviews
Puritan's Pride Organic Flaxseed Oil, Cold-Pressed, Source of Vegetarian Omega 3-6-9, 16 Fluid Ounce, Pack of 1 (Packaging may vary)
  • Highest quality vitamins and supplements since 1973
  • Cold pressed
  • Pure and unrefined
  • Vegetarian
  • 1 month supply
  • During the summer months products may arrive warm but Amazon stores and ships products in accordance with manufacturers' recommendations, when provided.

or

Puritan's Pride Organic Flaxseed Oil, Cold-Pressed, Source of Vegetarian Omega 3-6-9, 16 Fluid Ounce, Pack of 1 (Packaging may vary)
7,978 Reviews
Puritan's Pride Organic Flaxseed Oil, Cold-Pressed, Source of Vegetarian Omega 3-6-9, 16 Fluid Ounce, Pack of 1 (Packaging may vary)
  • Highest quality vitamins and supplements since 1973
  • Cold pressed
  • Pure and unrefined
  • Vegetarian
  • 1 month supply
  • During the summer months products may arrive warm but Amazon stores and ships products in accordance with manufacturers' recommendations, when provided.

References

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