What is Argan Oil?

This is an oil that is extracted from the seeds from an argan tree, which is native to Southwestern Morocco.  Argan oil is used for cosmetic and nutritive properties.  One of the reasons that you can find this tree in Southwestern Morocco is that it will adapt extremely well to the environmentally harsh conditions and drought of this area. 

The argan tree grows best in soil that is semi-arid and has a root system that goes deep..  This type of root system will help to protect it against the advance of the northern part of the Sahara Desert and soil erosion.  Because this tree has to have very specific growing areas, which are not that large, this makes it a rare oil.

How is argan oil extracted from the seeds?

• Traditional method—in ancient Morocco the Berbers, who were a ethnic group in North Africa, would collect the argan pits from the waste of their goats.  The reason they did this is because the goats would climb the trees to eat the fruit.  After collecting them they would press and ground the pits to make the nutty oil that was used for cosmetics and for cooking. 
• Modern day—the seeds that are collected today to get the oil for cooking and cosmetic products has most likely been processed with machines after the seeds were harvested directly from the argan tree. 

What do the argan seeds look like?

The fruits that they get from the argan trees are about the size of a nut and can be oval, conical, or round.  These fruits are covered by a thick peel.  This peel covers the pulp, which surrounds the hard shelled nut.  This nut is approximately twenty-five percent of the fruit’s weight.  In this nut there are up to three oil-rich kernels from which the oil is extracted.  Depending on the extraction method that is used the yields they can get is from thirty to fifty-five percent from the kernels.  The key to a higher production of argan oil is the extraction method that is used.

How is argan oil made?

The first thing that has to be done is dry the fruits in the open air.  Once they are dried the fleshy pulp is removed.  If the pulp is mechanically removed then the fruits will not need to be dried first.  They use the pulp to feed their animals.  Once the nut is taken out it is cracked to get the kernels, which is done by hand.  This method is a labor-intensive and time-consuming but attempts to mechanize this part of the process have not been successful.  The kernels are gently roasted and then pressed and ground after cooling down.  At this time the oil is left to rest for approximately fourteen days after it is decanted.  The reason that it has to rest for fourteen days is to allow the solids that are in the argan oil to settle to the bottom.  The oil will keep for twelve to eighteen months.