Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil is a natural oil extracted from the seeds of Crambe abyssinica, a plant native to the Mediterranean region and parts of Eastern Africa. It is prized for its high content of long-chain fatty acids, which provide excellent moisturizing and protective benefits for the skin and hair. The oil is lightweight, non-greasy, and quickly absorbed, making it a popular ingredient in skincare, haircare, and cosmetic formulations. Known for its ability to enhance shine and hydration, it is often used in products designed to improve hair manageability and skin softness.

Chemical Composition and Structure
Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil is rich in erucic acid, a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid that makes up the majority of its fatty acid profile. Erucic acid contributes to the oil's emollient properties, helping to form a protective barrier on the skin and hair that retains moisture. The oil also contains other beneficial fatty acids, such as oleic acid and linoleic acid, which provide additional conditioning and nourishing effects.

Physical Properties
Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil is a pale yellow to golden liquid with a light, non-greasy texture. It is easily absorbed by the skin and hair, providing a smooth, silky feel without leaving an oily residue. The oil has excellent oxidative stability, meaning it is resistant to rancidity and has a long shelf life, making it suitable for various cosmetic and personal care products.

Crambe (Crambe abyssinica Hochst) is an annual herbaceous plant, native to East Africa, belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Its low cost of production and its hardiness, which also withstands adverse climatic conditions, make it an interesting crop, especially for the oil that is obtained from the kernel.

Crambe abyssinica oil is produced from the oilseed crop and is a non-food seed crop. It has a protein, fibre, oleic acid and erucic acid content. 

The name defines the structure of the molecule

• "Crambe abyssinica". Refers to a plant, specifically a species of Crambe, which is native to East Africa. It's also known as "Abyssinian mustard".
• "Seed" indicates that the oil is extracted from the seeds of the plant.
• "Oil" refers to the fatty liquid obtained from the seeds.

Description of raw materials used in production

Crambe abyssinica Seeds - These are the primary source of the oil.

Step-by-step summary of industrial chemical synthesis process.

• Harvesting - The Crambe abyssinica seeds are harvested once they reach maturity.
• Cleaning - The seeds are cleaned to remove debris and other impurities.
• Drying - The seeds are dried to reduce moisture content.
• Pressing - The dried seeds are mechanically pressed to extract the oil.
• Refining - The crude oil undergoes refining processes to remove impurities and enhance its quality. This might include decolorizing, deodorizing, and filtering.
• Quality Control - The final product undergoes various quality checks to ensure it meets specifications.

It is in the form of a transparent yellowish liquid with a barely perceptible odour. Soluble in cosmetic esters and fixed oils; insoluble in water.

What it is used for and where

Main uses

Studies have found the potential of this oil as an acaricide and as a tick repellent (1).

Anti-slip agent in plastics or lubricants, nylon and cosmetics (2).

Potential for producing biofuels.

Cosmetics

Skin lubricating and nourishing agent.  

Hair conditioning agent. A significant number of ingredients with specific and targeted purposes may co-exist in hair shampoo formulations: cleansers, conditioners, thickeners, matting agents, sequestering agents, fragrances, preservatives, special additives. However, the indispensable ingredients are the cleansers and conditioners as they are necessary and sufficient for hair cleansing and manageability. The others act as commercial and non-essential auxiliaries such as: appearance, fragrance, colouring, etc. Hair conditioning agents have the task of increasing shine, manageability and volume, and reducing static electricity, especially after treatments such as colouring, ironing, waving, drying and brushing. They are, in practice, dispersants that may contain cationic surfactants, thickeners, emollients, polymers. The typology of hair conditioning agents includes: intensive conditioners, instant conditioners, thickening conditioners, drying conditioners. They can perform their task generally accompanied by other different ingredients.

Skin conditioning agent. It is the mainstay of topical skin treatment as it has the function of restoring, increasing or improving skin tolerance to external factors, including melanocyte tolerance. The most important function of the conditioning agent is to prevent skin dehydration, but the subject is rather complex and involves emollients and humectants that can be added in the formulation.

The enzyme omega-6 fatty acid desaturase (FAD2) is known to be involved in the biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (3).

References_______________________________________________________________________

(1) Mattos C, Andrade J, Salarini Peixoto B, Tavares Moraes NL, da Cunha Veloso MC, Alves Romeiro G, Folly EDC. Acaricidal Properties of Bio-Oil Derived From Slow Pyrolysis of Crambe abyssinica Fruit Against the Cattle Tick Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae). Front Physiol. 2021 Dec 2;12:768522. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.768522.

(2) Mietkiewska E, Brost JM, Giblin EM, Barton DL, Taylor DC. Cloning and functional characterization of the fatty acid elongase 1 (FAE1) gene from high erucic Crambe abyssinica cv. Prophet. Plant Biotechnol J. 2007 Sep;5(5):636-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2007.00268.x.

Abstract. A genomic fatty acid elongation 1 (FAE1) clone was isolated from Crambe abyssinica. The genomic clone corresponds to a 1521-bp open reading frame, which encodes a protein of 507 amino acids. In yeast cells expression of CrFAE led to production of new very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids such as eicosenoic (20:1(delta11)) and erucic (22:1(delta13)) acids. Seed-specific expression in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in up to a 12-fold increase in the proportion of erucic acid. On the other hand, in transgenic high-erucic Brassica carinata plants, the proportion of erucic acid was as high as 51.9% in the best transgenic line, a net increase of 40% compared to wild type. These results indicate that the CrFAE gene encodes a condensing enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of very long-chain fatty acids utilizing monounsaturated and saturated acyl substrates, with a strong capability for improving the erucic acid content.

(3) Cheng J, Zhu LH, Salentijn EM, Huang B, Gruber J, Dechesne AC, Krens FA, Qi W, Visser RG, van Loo EN. Functional analysis of the omega-6 fatty acid desaturase (CaFAD2) gene family of the oil seed crop Crambe abyssinica. BMC Plant Biol. 2013 Oct 1;13:146. doi: 10.1186/1471-2229-13-146.

Abstract. Background: Crambe abyssinica produces high erucic acid (C22:1, 55-60%) in the seed oil, which can be further increased by reduction of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels. The omega-6 fatty acid desaturase enzyme (FAD2) is known to be involved in PUFA biosynthesis. In crambe, three CaFAD2 genes, CaFAD2-C1, CaFAD2-C2 and CaFAD2-C3 are expressed. Results: The individual effect of each CaFAD2 gene on oil composition was investigated through studying transgenic lines (CaFAD2-RNAi) for differential expression levels in relation to the composition of seed-oil. Six first generation transgenic plants (T1) showed C18:1 increase (by 6% to 10.5%) and PUFA reduction (by 8.6% to 10.2%). The silencing effect in these T1-plants ranged from the moderate silencing (40% to 50% reduction) of all three CaFAD2 genes to strong silencing (95% reduction) of CaFAD2-C3 alone. The progeny of two T1-plants (WG4-4 and WG19-6) was further analysed. Four or five transgene insertions are characterized in the progeny (T2) of WG19-6 in contrast to a single insertion in the T2 progeny of WG4-4. For the individual T2-plants of both families (WG19-6 and WG4-4), seed-specific silencing of CaFAD2-C1 and CaFAD2-C2 was observed in several individual T2-plants but, on average in both families, the level of silencing of these genes was not significant. A significant reduction in expression level (P < 0.01) in both families was only observed for CaFAD2-C3 together with significantly different C18:1 and PUFA levels in oil. Conclusions: CaFAD2-C3 expression is highly correlated to levels of C18:1 (r = -0.78) and PUFA (r = 0.75), which suggests that CaFAD2-C3 is the most important one for changing the oil composition of crambe.

Qi W, Tinnenbroek-Capel IE, Schaart JG, Huang B, Cheng J, Visser RG, Van Loo EN, Krens FA. Regeneration and transformation of Crambe abyssinica. BMC Plant Biol. 2014 Sep 3;14:235. doi: 10.1186/s12870-014-0235-1.

Abstract. Background: Crambe abyssinica (crambe) is a non-food oil seed crop. Its seed oil is widely used in the chemical industry because of the high erucic acid content. Furthermore, it is a potential platform for various feedstock oils for industrial uses based on genetic modification. Here, we describe the development of a series of protocols for all steps required in the process of generating genetically modified crambe....Conclusions: Present research revealed the potential of using crambe meristematic tissue for genetic transformation and in vitro propagation. The most efficient method of transformation used cotyledonary node explants from 7-days-old seedlings with a shifting kanamycin selection. Meristematic tissues (cotyledonary node or axillary bud) had the highest ability for shoot proliferation. Single-copy T-DNA insert lines could be efficiently and reproducibly generated.