Vegetable oils

Vegetable oil is extracted from the seeds or fruits of oilseed plants, which are those that contain a high amount of lipids. There are several methods to extract vegetable oils, and one of them is cold pressing. This process is completely mechanical and is carried out at a low temperature, which allows all the essential fatty acids, vitamin E and natural antioxidants present in the oil to be preserved, without the need to add additives. The first extraction, known as "first pressing", produces a pure extract of the oleaginous fruit, without adulterations. It is important to distinguish between a vegetable oil and an oily macerate. Vegetable oil is obtained by first cold pressing the seeds or oleaginous fruits, being similar to a pure lipid juice. On the other hand, oil macerates are obtained by macerating parts of a plant in a vegetable oil for several weeks, which enriches the oil with the active ingredients of the selected plant. Both vegetable oils and oily macerates are useful and can be used similarly in various applications.