NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Argan oil

Argan oil is an oil produced from the fruits of the Argan (Argania spinosa) a species of tree endemic to the calcareous semi-desert of southwestern Morocco. It is the sole species in the genus Argania. The Argan tree now grows only in SW Morocco .It is believed to date back 25,000,000 years and to have once covered N. Africa. Now endangered and under protection of UNESCO, the Argan grows wild in semi-desert soil, its deep root system helping to protect against soil erosion and the northern advance of the Sahara[1]. Vegetable oil redirects here. ... For other uses, see Argan (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Argan (disambiguation). ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... In biology and ecology endemic means exclusively native to a place or biota, in contrast to cosmopolitan or introduced. ... Calcareous formed from or containing a high proportion of Calcium carbonate. ... Semi-arid generally describes regions that receive low annual rainfall (25 to 50 cm /10 to 20 in) and generally have scrub or grass vegetation. ... For other uses, see Argan (disambiguation). ... UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...

It was first reported by the explorer Leo Africanus in 1510. An early specimen was taken to Amsterdam and then cultivated by Lady Beaufort at Badminton c1711. Now only 860,000 hectares remain in S.W. Morocco and these are declining at a rate of 50,000h per year. Measures are being put in place to protect this rare and endangered species and in 1999 the argan was listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Heritage[2]. There is an argan tree in the temperate house at Kew [3]. See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography. ... Leo Africanus was the Christianised name of Hasan bin Muhammed al-Wazzan al-Fasi (Hasan, son of Muhammed, the Weigher from Fez) (Granada 1488? â€“ 1554?). A former inhabitant of Granada, his family left the city sometime after the christian conquest of the muslim kingdom in 1492. ... In biology, specimen is an individual animal or a plant or a microorganism that is used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species. ... Nickname: Motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Determined, Compassionate) Location of Amsterdam Coordinates: , Country Netherlands Province North Holland Government - Mayor Job Cohen (PvdA) - Aldermen Lodewijk Asscher Hennah Buyne Carolien Gehrels Tjeerd Herrema Maarten van Poelgeest Marijke Vos - Secretary Erik Gerritsen Area [1][2] - City 219 kmÂ² (84. ... The Danish Olympic badminton player Peter Gade Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. ... A false-color composite of global oceanic and terrestrial photoautotroph abundance, from September 1997 to August 2000. ...

The most labour intensive part of oil-extraction is removal of the soft pulp (used as animal feed) and the cracking by hand, between two stones, of the hard nut. The seeds are then removed and gently roasted. This roasting accounts for part of the oil's distinctive, nutty flavour. The traditional technique for oil extraction is to grind the roasted seeds to paste, with a little water, in a stone rotary quern. The paste is then squeezed between hands to extract the oil. The extracted paste is still oil-rich and is used as animal feed. Oil produced by this method will keep 3-6 months, and will be produced as needed in a family, from a store of the kernels, which will keep for 20 years unopened. Dry-pressing is now increasingly important for oil produced for sale, as the oil will keep 12-18 months and extraction is much faster. In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed livestock, such as cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs. ... Quern-stones are a pair of stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. ...

Goats like the pulp of argan fruits and often try to climb the trees to get at them. They will digest the pulp, but shed the undigested seeds in their feces.^[1] As these have shells that are somewhat softened and easier to crack, they are occasionally used to produce oil for non-culinary purposes. An urban legend has it that all argan oil is produced this way. This myth seems to be based on the fact that occasionally, shrewd traders would have sold (and may still try to sell) such "non-food grade" argan oil to ignorant travellers or tourists. The fact that the nuts acquire a foul aroma in passing through the animal's digestive tract makes it easy to tell this oil apart from food-grade produce with its rich, walnut oil-like flavor (Nouaim 2005). For the animal, see goat. ... Feces, faeces, or fÃ¦ces (see spelling differences) In humans, defecation may occur (depending on the individual and the circumstances) from once every two or three days to several times a day. ... An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... Walnut oil was one of the most important and vital oils of the Renaissance. ...

The oil contains 80% unsaturated fatty acids:^[2] The term saturation generally means thoroughly full, and can refer to the following: In chemistry, see saturation (chemistry) for a number of meanings. ... In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid (or organic acid), often with a long aliphatic tail (long chains), either saturated or unsaturated. ...

It is rich in essential fatty acids and is more resistant to oxidation than olive oil. Palmitic acid, also called hexadecanoic acid, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants. ... Stearic acid, also called octadecanoic acid, is one of the useful types of saturated fatty acids that comes from many animal and vegetable fats and oils. ... Oleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in various animal and vegetable sources. ... The chemical strucuture of linoleic acid showing physiological numbering (red) and chemical numbering (blue) conventions. ... Chemical structure of alpha-linolenic acid Linolenic acid is an 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid with three double bonds. ... In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail (chain), which is either saturated or unsaturated. ... The most fundamental reactions in chemistry are the redox processes. ... Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive (Olea europaea), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. ...

Argan oil is used for dipping bread, on couscous, salads and similar uses. A dip for bread known as amlou is made from argan oil, almonds and peanuts, sometimes sweetened by honey or sugar. The unroasted oil is traditionally used as a treatment for skin diseases, and has found favour with European cosmetics manufacturers. Couscous with vegetables and chickpeas Couscous (IPA - Berber Seksu - Arabic: [1]) is a food of the Maghreb of Berber origin. ... Salad Platter Salad is a term applied broadly to many food preparations that are a mixture of chopped or sliced ingredients. ... Binomial name (Mill. ... Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulzs death). ... A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones/biscuits. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... For other uses, see Cosmetic. ...

Argan oil is sold in Morocco, sometimes to tourists as a £10 per 250ml luxury item (although difficult to find outside the region of production), sometimes in ordinary shops and supermarkets for £10 per litre, and is of increasing interest to cosmetics companies in Europe. It was very difficult to buy the oil outside Morocco, but in 2001-2002 argan oil suddenly became a fashionable food in Europe and North America. It is now widely available in specialist shops and, sometimes, in supermarkets. Its price ($20-30 for 250 ml) reflects the labour needed for processing, but a little argan oil goes a long way. For other uses, see Cosmetic. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Exterior of a typical British supermarket (a Tesco Extra) Exterior of typical North American supermarket (a Safeway) This Flagship Randalls store in Houston, Texas is an example of an upscale supermarket. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ...

Artisanal manufacture of argan oil Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 427 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1888 Ã— 2652 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 416 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (2000 Ã— 2880 pixel, file size: 4. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 398 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (2000 Ã— 3008 pixel, file size: 4. ...

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Categories: Cooking oils | Vegetable oils | Moroccan cuisine ... Fats is the plural for fat, a generic term for a class of lipids in biochemistry. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or blocks, and frequently served with the use of a butter knife. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ghee in a jar Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on Ghee Ghee (Hindi à¤˜à¥€ from Sanskrit ghá¹›ta à¤˜à¥ƒà¤¤ sprinkled ) is a type of clarified butter important in Indian cuisine. ... Lard refers to pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. ... Margarine in a tub Margarine (pronunciation: ), as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter-substitutes. ... A slab of sÅ‚onina aged in paprika, popular in Central and East Europe Salo (Russian and Ukrainian: , Belarusian: , Hungarian: Polish: , Macedonian: , Romanian slÄƒnÃnÄƒ or slÃ¡nÄƒ, Serbo-Croatian, Czech and Slovak: slanina) is a traditional Central and Eastern European food: slabs of pork underskin fat, with or... Schmaltz is rendered chicken or goose fat used for frying or spreading on bread. ... Shea nut butter is a slightly greenish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from fruit of the Shea tree by crushing and boiling. ... Suet is raw beef or mutton fat, especially that found around the loins and kidneys. ... Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. ... Shortening is a semisolid fat used in food preparation, especially baked goods, and is so called because it inhibits the formation of long gluten strands in wheat-based doughs, giving them a short texture (as in shortbread). ... Oil painting is done on surfaces with pigment ground into a medium of oil - especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. ... Binomial name (Mill. ... In agriculture, Canola is a trademarked cultivar of genetically engineered rapeseed variants from which rapeseed oil is obtained. ... Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, is a fat consisting of about 90% saturated fat, extracted from coconuts and used in cosmetics as well as baking and cooking. ... Corn oil is oil extracted from the germ of corn. ... Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the cotton plant after the cotton lint has been removed. ... Grape oil (also grapeseed oil) is a vegetable oil pressed from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes, an abundant by-product of wine making. ... Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive (Olea europaea), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. ... Palm oil from Ghana with its natural dark color visible, 2 litres Palm oil block Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. ... A bottle of peanut oil Peanut oil is an organic oil derived from peanuts, noted to have the slight aroma and taste of its parent legume. ... Pumpkin seed oil (also known as pumpkinseed oil, pumpkinseedoil, kernÃ¶l oil, or kÃ¼rbiskernÃ¶l) is a culinary specialty of Styria, Austria and is made of roasted seeds of pumpkins. ... Binomial name Brassica napus L. Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as Rape, Oilseed Rape, Rapa, Rapaseed and (one particular cultivar) Canola, is a bright yellow flowering member (related to mustard) of the family Brassicaceae. ... Safflower oil is an oil extracted from the safflower seed. ... Sesame oil (also known as gingelly oil and til oil) is an organic oil derived from sesames, noted to have the distinctive aroma and taste of its parent seed. ... Binomial name Glycine max (L.) Merr. ... Sunflower Oil is the non-volatile oil expressed from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds. ... Walnut oil was one of the most important and vital oils of the Renaissance. ... Olive oil The following is intended to be a comprehensive list of oils that are extracted from plants. ...

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