Ricinolein is the chief constituent of castor oil

Castor oil

Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean . Castor oil is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Its boiling point is and its density is 961 kg/m3...

 and is the triglyceride

Triglyceride

A triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. There are many triglycerides, depending on the oil source, some are highly unsaturated, some less so....

 of ricinoleic acid

Ricinoleic acid

Ricinoleic acid is an unsaturated omega-9 fatty acid that naturally occurs in mature Castor plant seeds or in sclerotium of ergot . About 90% of the fatty acid content in castor oil is the triglyceride formed from ricinoleic acid...

. Castor oil, the expressed natural fatty oil of the seeds of Ricinus communis also contains mixtures of the glycerides of isoricinoleic acids and much smaller traces of tristearin and the glyceride of dihydroxysteric acid. Ricinolein is the active principle in the use of castor oil as a purgative and solvent

Solvent

A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...

 for several medically useful alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

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