Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) is a shrubby member of the Compositae family that is native to the desert regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Other species of this genus are found in all regions of the Americas. Guayule is one of more than two thousand plant species that can potentially be used to produce latex and rubber. Only guayule and its chief competitor, Hevea brasiliensis, have been used to produce commercial quantities of rubber.
Although commercial production of guayule-derived rubber dates back to the 1920's, when Continental Rubber Company produced small quantities of latex and rubber from guayule plants grown in Arizona and California, it was not until the Emergency Rubber Project during World War II that largescale production of guayule rubber commenced. With the U.S. economy on a wartime footing and with supplies of imported Hevea rubber becoming uncertain, U.S. Code Title 7, Section 171, authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to acquire the technology of the Continental Rubber Company, plant up to 500,000 acres of guayule, and develop factories for the production of guayule-based rubber. With the end of World War II and re-establishment of the Hevea rubber supply from Asia, guayule-based rubber was no longer economically competitive. The unfavorable price difference between guayule-based rubber and Hevea-based rubber has remained unchanged, even though many agronomic improvements have been made for guayule.
However, new life may be developing for guayule-based rubber in a large niche market: medical products. A method for producing hypoallergenic latex derived from guayule has been developed and patented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A private company, Yulex Corporation, has licensed this technology and intends to use it to manufacture medical items, such as surgical gloves. The gloves produced from guayule-based latex do not contain the allergenic proteins that Hevea-based latex contains, so they will not cause allergic reactions in the estimated twenty million Americans who are allergic to Hevea rubber products. In this case, the cost disparity between Hevea rubber and guayule rubber is offset by the technical improvement that guayule latex brings to the high-value market for medical devices.
See also: Jojoba, Hesperaloe
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