There are three types of methods followed for extracting vegetable oils from plants. The most relevant part of the plant is placed under extreme pressure to get the oil extracted, this gives expressed oils. Oils can also be extracted from plants by dissolving some parts of plants in water or other solvents. The solution can be separated from the plants and then concentrated; this gives extracted or leached oil. The mixture can also be separated by distilling the oil away from the plants. The oils which are extracted from this method are known as essential oils. Essential oils have many other properties and uses than pressed or leached vegetable oils Macerated oils are made by infusing parts of plants in base oil — a process known as maceration.

Vegetable oils can be classified in several ways, for example:

• By source: most, but not all vegetable oils are extracted from the fruits or seeds of plants, and the oils may be classified by grouping oils from similar plants, such as “nut oils”.
• By use: oils from plants are used in cooking, for fuel, for cosmetics, for medical purposes, and for other industrial purposes.

Edible oils

These oils account for a significant fraction of worldwide edible oil production. All are also used as fuel oils.

• Coconut oil, a cooking oil, high in saturated fat, particularly used in baking and cosmetics.
• Cottonseed oil, used in manufacturing potato chips and other snack foods.
• Olive oil, used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps, and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps.
• Rapeseed oil, including Canola oil, one of the most widely used cooking oils.
• Safflower oil, produced for export for over 50 years, first for use in paint industry, now mostly as a cooking oil.
• Sesame oil, cold pressed as light cooking oil, hot pressed for a darker and stronger flavor.
• Soybean oil, produced as a byproduct of processing soy meal.
• Sunflower oil, a common cooking oil, also used to make biodiesel.

Nut oils

• Hazelnuts from the Common Hazel, used to make Hazelnut oil.
• Almond oil, used as an edible oil, but primarily in the manufacture of pharmaceutical drugs.
• Cashew oil, somewhat comparable to olive oil. May have value for fighting dental cavities.
• Hazelnut oil, mainly used for its flavor. Also used in skin care, because of its slight astringent nature.
• Macadamia oil, strongly flavored, contains no trans fat.
• Pecan oil, valued as a food oil, but requiring fresh pecans for good quality oil.
• Pine nut oil added to foods usually as a flavoring agent.
• Walnut oil, used for its flavor, also used by Renaissance painters in oil paints.

Some Other edible oils

• Carob seed pods, used to make carob pod oil.
• Amaranth oil, high in squalene and unsaturated fatty acids, used in food and cosmetic industries.
• Apricot oil, similar to, but much cheaper than almond oil, which it resembles. Only obtained from certain cultivars.
• Apple seed oil, used in cosmetics and shampoos. Also used as an edible oil.
• Argan oil, a food oil from Morocco that has also attracted recent attention in Europe.
• Artichoke oil, extracted from the seeds of the Cynara cardunculus. Similar in use and composition to safflower and sunflower oil.
• Avocado oil, a nutty-flavored culinary oil, also used as a base for infusions. Also used in cosmetics. Unusually high smoke point of 510°F.
• Carob pod oil (Algaroba oil), from carob, used medicinally.
• Cocoa butter, from the cacao plant. Used in the manufacture of chocolate, as well as in some cosmetics.
• Cocklebur oil, from species of genus Xanthium, with similar properties to poppyseed oil, similar in taste and smell to sunflower oil.
• Cohune oil, from the Attalea cohune (cohune palm), similar to coconut oil in makeup and usage[49]
• Coriander seeds are the source of an edible pressed oil, Coriander seed oil.
• Coriander seed oil, from coriander seeds, used medicinally. Also used as a flavoring agent in pharmaceutical and food industries.
• Date seed oil, extracted from date pits.
• Dika oil, from Irvingia gabonensis seeds, native to West Africa. Used to make margarine, soap and pharmaceuticals, where is it being examined as a tablet lubricant. Largely underdeveloped.
• False flax oil made of the seeds of Camelina sativa, available in Russia as ryjhikovoye maslo (рыжиковое масло). Considered promising as a food or fuel oil.
• Flax seed oil (called linseed oil when used as a drying oil). High in omega 3 and lignans, which can be used medicinally. Easily turnsrancid.
• Grape seed oil, suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Also used as a salad oil, and in cosmetics.
• Hemp oil, a high quality food oil.
• Kapok seed oil, used as an edible oil, and in soap production.
• Kenaf Seed oil a fibre plant similar to Hemp.
• Lallemantia oil, from the seeds of Lallemantia iberica, discovered at archaeological sites in northern Greece.
• Marula oil, extracted from the kernel of Sclerocarya birrea. Used in the food and cosmetic industry, it has strong antioxidant and moisturising properties.
• Meadowfoam seed oil, highly stable oil, with over 98% long-chain fatty acids. Competes with rapeseed oil for industrial applications.
• Mustard oil (pressed), used in India as cooking oil. Also used as a massage oil.

The poppyseed oil

• Poppyseed oil, used for cooking, moisturizing skin, in paints and varnishes, and in soaps.
• Prune kernel oil, marketed as a gourmet cooking oil.
• Quinoa oil, similar in composition and use to corn oil.
• Ramtil oil, pressed from the seeds of the one of several species of genus Guizotia abyssinica (Niger pea) in India and Ethiopia. Used for both cooking and lighting.
• Rice bran oil, suitable for high temperature cooking. Widely used in Asia.
• Royle oil, pressed from the seeds of Prinsepia utilis, a wild, edible oil shrub that grows in the higher Himalayas. Used medicinally inNepal.
• Sacha inchi oil, from the Peruvian Amazon. High in behenic, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
• Shea butter, used primarily in skin care products. Some confectioners use shea butter as a substitute for cocoa butter.
• Taramira oil, from the seeds of the arugula (Eruca sativa), grown in West Asia and Northern India. Used as a (pungent) edible oil after aging to remove acridity.
• Tea seed oil (Camellia oil), widely used in southern China as a cooking oil. Also used in making soaps, hair oils and a variety of other products.
• Thistle oil, pressed from the seeds of Silybum marianum. Relatively unstable. Also used for skin care products.
• Tomato seed oil. High in unsaturated fats and lysine. Potentially useful as a protein supplement.
• Wheat germ oil, used as a dietary supplement, and for its “grainy” flavor. Also used medicinally. Highly unstable.

 

 

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