What is a vegetable oil?
A vegetable oil is a fatty substance extracted from an oleaginous vegetable product whose seeds, nuts or fruits contain lipids (fat).
Vegetable oils offer a very wide range of properties that can be used "In" or "Out", as in In & Out . They are made up of nutrients, active ingredients.
The richness of these oils depends on the plant itself, its mode of cultivation but also its mode of extraction.
What we see most often is the indication “first cold pressing” on the products.
What is first cold pressing?
It is the oldest and only extraction method used that guarantees the cleanliness, purity and preservation of the extracted vegetable oil and presents a more natural color and flavor.
The first cold pressing does not involve heat or additives. This makes it possible to preserve the essential nutrients of the vegetable oil (essential fatty acids, vitamins, sterols, etc.) and thus its active principles, and therefore its benefits.
The first cold pressing is a mechanical process at room temperature.
The process is done as follows:
It is initiated by the preparation of seeds.
Impurities are removed from the seeds by air suction. In order to facilitate the extraction of the oil, the seeds are pretreated by being shelled. They are finally ready to be extracted.
The extraction by pressure can finally begin.
The seeds are going to be inserted into a hydraulic press at room temperature until it squeezes out all of its juice. The liquid thus collected then rests to be decanted. This is how the water (the aqueous phase) and the oil (the organic phase) separate.
This process makes it possible to obtain a very pure oil containing no foreign substances.
However, this method does not completely remove the oil from the seeds. In fact, only 9 to 20% oil is obtained, which explains why first-press oils are more expensive than oils obtained by extraction via solvents.
When these criteria are specified on the label, you have an excellent quality oil in your hands.