Cincinnati’s Business Courier reports that Procter and Gamble Co. is investing in cuphea, a flower that produces an oil necessary for making detergents, shampoos and soaps-and that could replace the use of coconut and palm oils, cutting the company’s rising commodities costs. Steven Knapp, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at UGA who has been funded by Procter since 1985 to study cuphea, is impressed by the company’s commitment. “It’s a tough plant to domesticate, this is what the reality is,” he says in the article. “It could be domesticated. But what Procter needs is railcars full, like corn or soybeans.”
