What is Seed Oil?
Seed oils are vegetable oils that are derived from the seeds of various plants. In fact, the majority of vegetable oils are derived from seeds! Soybeans, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds are all seeds that are used to create oils used in cooking. However, the uses of seed oils go beyond just cooking. Seeds oils like jojoba oil and prickly pear seed oil can be found in the beauty industry and sometimes in cosmetics.
Various Types of Seed Oil
- Acorn oil
- Blackberry seed oil
- Coffee seed oil
- Dill seed oil
- Fennel seed oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Hazelnut oil
- Jojoba oil
- Kale seed oil
- Linseed oil
- Macadamia oil
- Oat kernel oil
- Prickly pear seed oil
- Raspberry seed oil
- Strawberry seed oil
- Tomato seed oil
Is It Possible to Make Oil from Any Seed?
Hypothetically, yes. If a seed exists it could possibly be made into seed oil. One of the most difficult seed oils to make, if it were to be attempted, would be the orchid Gomesa crispa, also known as The Curly Gomesa. This orchid boasts the smallest seed in the world, so small in fact that it has no endosperm.
Small seeds have been made into seed oils before. Dill seeds are small, as are fennel seeds and there are seed oil made from them. Chia seeds can be processed into oil. The smaller and rarer the seeds the more expensive the seed oil. Small seeds require more raw material to make a product with, hence why certain seed oils are more expensive than others
How are Seed Oils Made?
In commercial processing, the seeds are first harvested and cleaned. Any waste material is discarded leaving the raw seed material for processing. Next, the seeds are crushed into smaller pieces and then ‘conditioned’ through heat before they’re sent to be pressed. The seed material that is left after being pressed is often soaked in a solvent, most commonly hexane, and then heated to release the last bits of oil. Later the hexane is removed, and the oil is further refined until it is packaged and sold. Occasionally, a cold-pressed method will be used instead. This method leaves more oil in the left-over seed material because no solvent is added to extract it.
Eventually, both the commercially produced and cold-pressed oil need to be refined. This can involve neutralizing fatty acids and filtering. Usually, the raw oil will go through an acid was, often citric acid, to aid in the removal of hydratable compounds. Additional steps that oil may undergo before making its way to the supermarket include bleaching and deodorizing to make the oil more appealing to customers.
Want to Learn More?
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