The United States must now rely on imported castor oil as a source of hydroxy fatty acids. The plant grows natively in the U.S., is adapted to arid regions, and has potential to be successfully developed into an alternative crop for American farmers.
Plant improvements are necessary to be successfully grown in cultivation.
Three new germplasm lines were developed that exhibited, respectively, higher oil content, higher hydroxy fatty acid content in the oil, and seed with a higher content of both oil and hydroxy fatty acid, compared to unimproved seed. This is the first publicly released material of lesquerella. These new lines should offer public and private researchers improved germplasm with high genetic diversity for future improvements.