An oilseed plant with a component that can be used in everything from shampoo to motor lubricant is being tested at some of Iowa State’s research and demonstration farms.

The component is called lauric acid. Plants containing the acid are mainly found in other countries, such as Malaysia. However, fluctuating prices have caused researchers to begin looking for ways to grow plants containing lauric acid in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service began testing a plant called cuphea. The plant is being grown from southern Ontario to Louisiana, said Wayne Roush, manager of the ISU Research and Demonstration Farm near Castana.

Researchers are “looking for a variety of places to plant the crop,” Roush said.

He said the Castana farm is one of three ISU research farms growing cuphea. The other two farms are near Calumet and Lewis.

“[The crops] look pretty promising this year,” Roush said.

He said cuphea may at times have difficulty growing in western Iowa because of the soil type. The soil tends to dry fast in the summer when there is not much rain.

This year, he said, “We had one of the better-looking crops.”

Terry Isbell, chemist at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill., said cuphea should be able to be grown and harvested with the same machinery used for soybean crops. “The idea is to use what farmers already have,” Isbell said.

Researchers hope to plant cuphea crops in rotation with soybeans and corn.

“Cuphea is not a direct competitor of those crops,” Roush said. This makes the rotation work.

Isbell said the rotation with corn is the most beneficial.

Corn often becomes infested with rootworm larvae. Cuphea does not host the rootworm, which means “you eliminate the pest,” Isbell said. Insecticides would not need to be used on the field, saving farmers $20 to $30 per acre.

Isbell said one of the biggest obstacles of growing cuphea as a crop is telling when to harvest the plant. Cuphea grows with layers of immature and mature seeds, making it difficult to tell the ripeness of the crop.

Another problem is seed shattering, Isbell said. This occurs when a plant begins to spread its seeds in order to propagate. Isbell said the plant should be harvested before this happens, but since cuphea has a good propagation mechanism it poses problems.

Roush said another problem is becoming familiar with the plant and “trying to define its environmental condition.” He said working with the plant involves much learning.

“It’s a crop we don’t have a lot of experience with,” Roush said.

The research is being funded by Procter & Gamble and Archer Daniels Midland Co. If a variety of cuphea with a high amount of lauric acid can be grown the companies say they could use 2 million acres of cuphea, Roush said.

Isbell said although research so far has gone well the plant is “far from being successful as a crop that’s ready for use.”

Research farms across the country will continue testing the plant in a variety of climates.

“Within the next 10 years we’ll have a plant that will be suitable for crops,” Isbell said.