Castor oil cake is also called castor meal, castor residue, castor extract & de-oiled castor cake.
The residue left after extracting castor oil from castor seed through an expeller is called as castor cake which is one of the most versatile natural manures. It is truly organic manure that enhances the fertility of the soil without causing any damage or decay. It is enriched with the three big elements vital and conducive to the proper growth of crops - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. It also has traces of nutrients like Manganese, Zinc, and Copper, thus making it a balanced fertilizer. Moreover, it helps to neutralize the detrimental effects of chemical fertilizers. Apart from their contribution to Nutrients, they have a number of benefits in agriculture, which none of the synthetic fertilizers or pesticides can offer. They bring in the wonderful molecules that nature has designed to help plants flourish naturally. They provide slow and steady nourishment, stimulation, and protection from soil nematodes and insects, and improve yields, and the quality of products like taste, flavor, amino acid composition, etc.
The solvent-extracted cake which is rich in protein cannot be used as cattle fodder because of its toxicity.However, it can be used as a fertilizer.
The protein content of castor seed meal varies from 21-48% depending upon the extent of decortications. It has an ideal amino acid profile with moderately high Cystine, methionine, and isoleucine. But its anti-nutritional substances, ricin, ricine, and an allergen restrict its use in poultry feed,
even at a very low level of inclusion.
Castor Cake is an excellent fertilizer because of its high content of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, Potash,
and moisture retention.
| Nitrogen | 4% min. approx. |
| Phosphorous | 1% min. approx. |
| Potassium | 1% min. approx. |
| Moisture | 10 - 12 % max. approx. |
| Oil Content | 0.7% max. approx. |