
Tamanu oil

Tamanu oil is pressed from nuts of either the "Calophyllum inophyllum" (usually) or the "Calophyllum tacamahaca" ("ati"), tropical trees belonging to Calophyllaceae family. The nuts yield 70–75% of the greenish-yellow inedible oil. The oil originates in Polynesia, where it continues to play an important cultural role. Commercial uses of tamanu oil are predominantly for skin care. The oil has both medicinal value and use as a fuel. Calophyllum inophyllum oil (CIO) is rich in antioxidants and contains UV-absorption properties, that can be used to treat skin within the dermatology field. Tamanu oil has been found to have cytotoxic, wound healing, and antibacterial properties.
Uses.
The seeds yield a thick, dark green tamanu oil for medicinal use or hair grease. The first neoflavone isolated in 1951 from natural sources was calophyllolide from "C. inophyllum" seeds.
The fatty acid methyl esters derived from "C. inophyllum" seed oil meets the major biodiesel requirements in the United States (ASTM D 6751), and European Union (EN 14214). The average oil yield is 11.7 kg-oil/tree or 4680 kg-oil/hectare. In the northwest coastal areas of Luzon island in Philippines, the oil was used for night lamps. This widespread use started to decline when kerosene became available, and later on electricity. It was also used as fuel to generate electricity to provide power for radios during World War II.
In Southern India, the oil of the seeds of the plant is used specifically for treating skin diseases. It is also applied topically in cases of rheumatism. The oil may have been useful in waterproofing cloth and is used as a varnish. An extract from the fruit was once used to make a brown dye to colour cloth. The oil can also be used to make soap.
In the most of the South Sea islands, tamanu or sultan champa oil is used as an analgesic medicine (natives use it for sciatica and rheumatism) and to cure ulcers and bad wounds
A farmer in Nagappattinam district of Tamil Nadu has successfully used the oil as biodiesel to run his 5-hp pumpset.
Oil extracted from the seeds is traditionally used topically to treat a wide range of skin injuries from burn, scar and infected wounds to skin diseases such as dermatosis, urticaria and eczema. CIO has been confirmed to be a safe topical solution. Studies showed that through scratch essay, CIO with high concentrations accelerates keratinocyte wound healing.
CIO exhibits high antibacterial activity against bacterial strains involved in acne.
Recently, studies have shown that CIO appears as a promising source to develop new antibiotics notably to fight multi-drug resistant bacteria implicated in skin infections.
Other names.
It is also called "beauty leaf oil", "calophyllum inophyllum seed oil", "calophyllum inophyllum oil", "kamani oil", "calophyllum oil", "calophyllum inophyllum essential oil", "dilo oil", "foraha oil", "Alexandrian laurel oil", "poon oil", "nyamplung oil", "domba oil", "honne oil" (Honge is used as biodiesel]), "undi oil", "pinnai oil", "fetau oil", "punnai oil", "daok oil", "pinnay oil", "kamanu oil", "bitaog oil", "tamanu nut oil", "punna oil", "takamaka oil" (ambiguous), "laurelwood oil" (ambiguous), "tacamahac oil" (ambiguous), "punnaga oil", "fetaʻu oil", "palo maria oil", "ballnut tree oil", "ballnut oil", "btaches oil", "beach calophyllum oil", or "mù u oil".
Fruits.
Fruiting takes place twice in a year in May and November. The fruit (the ball nut) is a round, green drupe reaching 2 to 4 cm in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red. The weight of the small fruit is 9 to 16.0 g when they are fresh. After drying, the weight is reduced to about 4 g. Ripe and fallen fruits are collected from the bottom of the tree, by beating the limbs with a long hand stick, or hand-picked by climbing the tree.
Kernel.
The kernel part in the whole dry fruit comprises 43–52% of its weight. The kernel is 1.5 cm diameter, enclosed in a soft seed coat and a hard seed coat. The kernel contains 55–73% of oil and 25% moisture when fresh.
Seed processing and extraction of oil.
The seeds are decorticated by wooden mallets or by decorticators or by pressing under planks. Usually, the kernels are pressed in wooden and stone" ghani".
Properties and fatty acids of oil.
The oil is bluish-yellow to dark green viscous, known as domba oil, or pinnai oil, or dilo oil. It has a disagreeable taste or odour, as it contains some resinous material that can easily be removed by refining. The concentration of resinous substances in the oil varies from 10 to 30%. The main compounds of the seed oil are oleic, linoleic, stearic, and palmitic acid.
Physical characteristics
Fatty acids present in oil
Another source says the oil contains the following fatty acids:
Other components include calophyllolide, friedelin, inophyllums B and P, terpenic essences, benzoic and oxibenzoic acids, phospho-amino lipids, glycerides, saturated fatty acids, and 4-phenylcoumarins.