28o ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY 



Cocoanut. — The fruit of the cocoanut palm yields a solid 

 oil used mostly in making soaps but also somewhat as a food, 

 the entire fleshy part of the nut being used also as food. 



Cacao. — The solid oil or fat obtained from the cacao bean 

 is known as cacao butter. It is a by-product in the manu- 

 facture of chocolate, etc. It is used mostly as a toilet article 

 and in soap making. 



Flaxseed. — This seed is a by-product from flax grown for 

 the fiber for the manufacture of linen. The oil obtained from 

 the seed is known as linseed oil. It is a drying oil and is used 

 in varnishes and paints. It is not a food. 



Maize. — The oil extracted from the germ of corn, separated 

 in the milling of the grain, is used as an edible oil to some extent 

 and also as a semi-drying oil and in making soaps. The ex- 

 tracted germ meal is used as stock food. 



Fat Content of Crops. — The fat content of crops is given 

 in the above table. The figures are those for the ordinarily 

 determined " ether extract " and thus do not represent pure 

 fat. They include other minor constituents such as waxes, 

 chlorophyll and some of the organic acids. 



Lecithin and Phytosterol 



Closely associated with the fats, though not strictly classed 

 with them, are two substances of considerable importance in 

 both plants and animals. They are phytosterol and lecithin. 



Phytosterol and Cholesterol. — Phytosterol is a monatomic 

 alcohol of high carbon content which is present in plants. The 

 formula assigned to it is C27H45OH, though a phytosterol ob- 

 tained from Calabar beans has been given the formula C30H47OH, 

 on account of which it is distinguished as stigmasteroL Phytos- 

 terol occurs in practically all vegetable fats. It is most abundant 

 in pea fat and the fat of the Calabar bean. In most vegetable 

 fats it amounts to 0.1-0.3 P^^ cent. A substance isomeric with 

 phytosterol but found in animals, especially in wool fat, is 

 known as cholesterol. It occurs normally in all cells, in blood 

 and in lymph. It is present in largest amounts in brain and 



