Cuphea oil is oil pressed from the seeds of several species of the genus Cuphea. Interest in cuphea oils is relatively recent, as a source of medium-chain triglycerides like those found in coconut oil and palm oil. Cuphea oil is of interest because it grows in climates where palms - the source of both of these oils - do not grow.
The fatty acid content of cuphea oils are as follows. The composition of coconut oil is included for comparison:[1]
| Species | Other | - | C. painteri | 73.0% | 20.4% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 6.1% | - | C. hookeriana | 65.1% | 23.7% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 10.9% | - | C. koehneana | 0.2% | 95.3% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 3.2% | - | C. lanceolata | 87.5% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 9.0% | - | C. viscosissima | 9.1% | 75.5% | 3.0% | 1.3% | 11.1% | - | C. carthagenensis | 5.3% | 81.4% | 4.7% | 8.6% | - | C. laminuligera | 17.1% | 62.6% | 9.5% | 10.8% | - | C. wrightii | 29.4% | 53.9% | 5.1% | 11.6% | - | C. lutea | 0.4% | 29.4% | 37.7% | 11.1% | 21.4% | - | C. epilobiifolia | 0.3% | 19.6% | 67.9% | 12.2% | - | C. stigulosa | 0.9% | 18.3% | 13.8% | 45.2% | 21.8% | - | Coconut | 8.0% | 7.0% | 48.0% | 18.0% | 19.0% |
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These oils are also valuable as sources of single fatty acids. C. painteri, for example, is rich in caprylic acid (73%), where C. carthagenensis oil consists of 81% lauric acid. C. koehneana oil may be the richest natural source of a single fatty acid, with 95% of its content consisting of capric acid.