THE LUMBANG-OIL INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINE 
ISLANDS 
By R. H. Aguilar 
{Bureau of Science^ Manila) 
The manufacture of lumbang oil in a crude way antedates 
existing records. It has been mostly carried on by Chinese, 
who have made no attempt to improve the methods of produc- 
tion, and the oil that they express is dark in color and of a 
disagreeable odor. 
The oil industry in the Philippine Islands is undergoing a 
radical change, for the manufacturers have adopted the motto 
of larger production and better quality. Some of the large local 
concerns, hitherto devoting themselves exclusively to the man- 
ufacture of coconut oil, are now turning their attention to other 
oils, among which lumbang holds an important place. There 
are several points to be taken into consideration, if the quality 
of the latter is to be improved and the industry placed on a 
commercial basis. The object of this paper is to discuss some 
of these points with a view to more profitable production. 
There are two kinds of lumbang nuts known in the Philippine 
Islands from which oils are obtained; lumbang bato (Aleurites 
moluccana)^ and lumbang banucalag (Aleurites trisperma). 
Lumbang bato is of wider distribution, more abundant, and 
better known than lumbang banucalag, and the attention of 
manufacturers at present is devoted to the production of oil 
from the former. Lumbang banucalag is almost unknown in 
the Manila market, and when the word “lumbang” is employed 
it is generally taken to mean lumbang bato. The Chinese, who 
are the largest dealers in lumbang oils,^ are not willing to 
handle the banucalag variety, because it is supposed that contact 
causes skin eruptions;® but, in my opinion, there is no founda- 
tion for this belief. 
'Richmond, G. F., and Rosario, M. V., Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 2 (1907) 
441-443. 
'For further data see Brill, H. C., and Agcaoili, F., Philip. Journ. Sci. 
§ A 10 (1915) 113. 
'Aguilar, R. H., Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 12 (1917) 236. 
275 
