134 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



is ovoid, and 5 to 6 centimeters long. It contains one or 

 two hard-shelled seeds. The seed is about 3 centimeters long 

 and 2.5 centimeters broad. It has a hard, rough, ridged shell 

 about 2.5 millimeters thick. This contains a white, oily, fleshy 

 kernel consisting of a very thin embryo surrounded by a large 

 endosperm. This is in turn covered by a thin, white, papery 

 seed coat. This thin seed coat adheres firmly to both the shell 

 and the kernel, so that the kernel is separated from the shell 

 with difficulty. 



This species is distributed from Luzon to Mindanao and Pa- 

 lawan, and recently has been planted in great numbers in Cebu, 



ALEURITES TRISPERMA Blanco. (Fig. 46). Bagilumbang. 



Local names: Bagilumbang, halukanad (Laguna) ; banukaldg, lumbang- 

 banukaldd, hunbang-giibat (Cavite) ; balukandg (Batangas) ; lumbdnif 

 (Oriental Negros, Camarines). Also reported from Rizal, Tayabas and 

 Davao. 



BAGILUMBANG OIL 



As previously mentioned, oil extracted from the nuts of Aleu 

 rites trisperma has characteristics which are almost indistin- 

 guishable from those of Chinese wood oil or tung oil. 



According to Heyne * Aleiirites cordata R. Br., until recently 

 and erroneously believed to be a source of Chinese wood oil, 

 occurs in southern Japan. The constants of the oil of this 

 species are remarkably like those of the oil of Aleurites tri- 

 sperma. 



The shells of Aleurites trisperma are much more easily cracked 

 than those of Aleurites moluccana. Moreover, the kernel is not 

 so difficult to separate from the shell because, when the nut is 

 dry, the kernel shrinks somewhat and may be easily removed 

 after the nuts have been cracked. Richmond and del Rosario f 

 found that one kilo of whole nuts contained 357 grams of shells 

 and 643 grams of kernels. 



The oil from the nuts of Aleurites trisperma deteriorates when 

 the nuts are stored. Moreover, according to Aguilar, the oil 

 deteriorates also if not kept in an hermetically sealed container. 



Aguilar says that the yield of oil by expression at 800 kilo- 

 grams per square centimeter may reach as high as 56 per cent 

 of the weight of the kernels. Oil prepared from fresh nuts is 

 of very good quality and light amber in color. The constants 

 of bagilumbang oil have been determined by Richmond and Ro- 



* Heyne, K., De Nuttige Planten van Nederlandsch-Indie, (1913). 



f Richmond, G. F. and Rosario, M. V. del, Commercial utilization of 

 some Philippine oil-bearing seeds; preliminary paper. Philippine Journal 

 of Science, Volume 2 (1907), pages 439 to 449. 



