The argan tree
(scientifically known as argania spinosa) grows only in one place in the world: in the south-west of Morocco.
The
local women would process around 30 kilos of Argan fruits in almost 14
hours of pure hard work, only to gain enough Argan kernels for 1 liter
of its rare oil.
Depending on the kind of the Argan oil extracted
(culinary or cosmetic), this God-sent precious gift finds use in a wide variety of life areas.
Not
only it's a highly coveted ingredient in almost every gourmet cuisine
nowadays, but also it also gained fame in medicine as well as in
cosmetics and beauty fields.
The Argan tree is one of the oldest
trees in the world and is now found in an intramontane area with very
low average rainfall covering more than 2,560,000 hectares.
It
grows only in Morocco and because of the existential significance for
the natives, the UNESCO has declared the area a protected Biosphere
Reserve.
No wonder the locals call it the "tree of life" thanks to
its importance and as it provides them with timber, charcoal, food for
their cattle and the famous oil, which is considered one of the most
valuable foods in the world in the last decade.
Extracting Argan Oil
The harvest time of the Argan fruits is from July to August.
And as opposed to the olive tree, the argania spiniosa can't simply be shaken to speed-up the harvesting procedure.
Therefore,
the women are obliged to collect the fruits from the ground and fell
the rest from the tree using stones in a backbreaking process.
What also hardens the harvesting journey, is the trees' rough & thorny twisted stems.
And
although many people believe that the majority of the Argan oil on the
markets today is extracted from the fruits collected by goats, this is
far from being true, simply because the quantity of Argan fruits needed
to satisfy the ongoing and increasing worldwide demand, is far beyond
what any herd of goats can process.
After cracking the Argan nuts,
which may contain two to three almond-shaped kernels, the women either
traditionally roast them to refine the taste and finally grind them
using a hand-stone mill to extract the culinary Argan oil or they
process them naturally to yield the cosmetic one.
In the culinary
version, the dough gained after grinding the roasted kernels is
hand-kneaded using hot water and then pressed to separate the oil from
the rest.
Modern Argan Oil Production
Nowadays,
to speed up the production process, a big number of manufacturers use
machines to extract Argan oil, especially the cosmetic one.
In the case of
cosmetic Argan oil, there's no water used and the kernels are pressed naturally without roasting.
This is what's now known as "cold pressed".
Yet,
despite the options modern technology is offering, the traditional
production of this miraculous oil is gaining ground again because of the
high Argan oil quality reached this way.
Luckily, in both cases,
to export Argan oil outside of Morocco, the producer and / or exporter
must provide compliance documents proving his/her oil is respecting
rigorous quality and hygiene guidelines.
This ensures,
among others, the oil was produced in an environment friendly, and ecologically sustainable manner.
Argan Oil In The Gastronomy
As
I stated before, in the last decades, Argan oil has gained fame not
only in the cosmetic & beauty industry, but it also became one of
the worldwide highly sought-after ingredients in the gourmet cuisine.
Thanks
to its subtle nutty flavor, it finds uses as a stand-alone dressing or
as an important luxury ingredient in salads, vegetables, fish and meat
dishes to name a few.
Furthermore, the culinary version is so healthy that it deservedly outshined olive oil thanks to its natural composition.
Many
renowned chefs quickly recognized that, thanks to its multifarious uses
and benefits, the culinary Argan oil plays in the same league as
truffles and caviar.
This is also reflected in the price of this
precious oil: One liter of genuine freshly-extracted & organic
culinary Argan oil costs between 90 and 120 Dollars depending on the
season!
Argan Oil As A Skin And Hair Serum
Though the culinary version can be used for both kitchen as well as cosmetic purposes, yet here is the cosmetic
(aka. cold-pressed) one a forerunner.
It has an amazingly excellent effect on skin, nails and hair.
Thanks
to its highly active and potent ingredients, not only it soothes
damaged skin, nails or hair, but it's also an ideal solution to
moisturize, hydrate sensitive, aging and / or blemished skin, brittle
unruly dry hair and weak nails.
Some Medical And Medicinal Properties
This
liquid gold is not only a delicacy, but also a health-elixir and a real
treasure simply because of the wide list of the valuable components
contained therein.
It has been clinically-proven to be the oil
with the highest concentration of essential fatty acids (over 80 %) -
mainly the linoleic and oleic acid.
Furthermore, besides being
rich in alpha-tocopherol, which has the highest vitamin E activity, it
also contains a remarkably high dose of natural antioxidants which help
protect against harmful free radicals and other environmental stresses.
It's
also noteworthy that Argan oil became a kind of a particular interest
to scientists thanks to its content in schottenol and spinasterol.
That said, the natives in Morocco successfuly used this for hundreds of years as a traditional multitasking remedy for:
- Stomach pain
- Intestinal problems
- Heart and circulatory problems
- Sunburn
- Disinfecting wounds
- Soothing bug bites
- Curing cuts
- Acne
- Chicken pox
- Eczema
- Rheumatism
- Joint pain
- Hemorrhoids
... and many other issues and diseases.
