The Mona Institute of Applied Sciences, an applied research and development centre, located in the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, is leading a consultancy aimed at giving the island dominance in the global market for Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO). The global market for JBCO, which is derived from Jamaican castor seeds, is estimated at between US$100 and US$300 million dollars per annum. However, Jamaica currently commands less than US$5 million of this market; the lion’s share being dominated by imitations produced outside of the country.

The project team, led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Howard Reid, Director of the Mona Institute of Applied Sciences, has been working with a number of key stakeholders, including the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Jamaica Baptist Union Grow Castor Bean Cluster Project, Jamaica Castor Industry Association, Rural Agricultural Development Agency, Jamaica Agricultural Society, Jamaica Business Development Corporation, Jamaica Bauxite Institute, and small growers and traditional producers of JBCO, to establish a more efficient and scientifically based castor oil industry that can authentically tap into that market.

High on the agenda of the US$200,000 Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) funded research and development project is a push by the BSJ and The UWI to develop JBCO standards as a precursor to obtaining Geographic Indication (GI) and Certification Marks for the Jamaican Black Castor Oil. A geographic indication (GI) is a distinctive sign used to identify a product as originating in a given place. This move would essentially prevent non-Jamaican producers from calling their products Jamaican Black Castor Oil and cashing in on the lucrative market.

The consultancy, which started in January 2020, but was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to resume in September 2022, and will run until the end of the year. The work involves the island wide collection of castor leaves, castor seeds, and castor plant samples, as well as the collection of samples (castor oil, castor seeds, castor meal, castor husks) from various local producers. It also includes a comprehensive survey cataloguing the castor accessions/varieties present in Jamaica; thus providing clarity on the genetic variability and potential cultivars present throughout Jamaica.

Against this background, the Institute is interested in contacting traditional producers in communities across Jamaica in order to ensure that the Jamaican Black Castor Oils made by both small and large producers, and castor accessions/varieties used by these producers to produce their JBCO are included in the study. Small and large producers of JBCO and persons who are aware of significant stands of castor plants growing wild in their communities are being asked to contact the Mona Institute of Applied Sciences via telephone on (876) 970 – 2021/2042 or via email at projects02.mias@gmail.com, so that the JBCO produced and castor accessions/varieties found in their communities may also be included in the study.

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