Why Jojoba Oil Extraction or Production Method Matters

Jojoba oil is extracted from the fruits of Jojoba plant, Simmondsia chinensis, a lone  member of the Simmondsiasea plant family. Pure golden jojoba oil as a skin, body, nail and hair care product is widely accepted as an excellent product helping to keep and improve good look, skin wellbeing and feel good in cosmetic products due to the natural features and inherent characteristics of jojoba oil.

Jojoba oil is rich with a complex mix of natural body acids and vitamins. Some of the natural beneficial chemicals found in jojoba oil are natural Gadoleic Acid (Eicosenoic Acid), Erucic Acid, Oleic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Palmitoleic Acid, Stearic Acid, Behenic Acid, Vitamin E, and Vitamin B Complex. Each of these natural substances fulfil specific beneficial function on and in the human body.

Acting in synergy and individually, these natural elements enable jojoba oil to deliver the ultimate benefits of freshness, smoothness, suppleness, skin elasticity that stops cracking, wear and tear, protecting against wrinkles, among other functions.

So, does the method of production, manufacture or extraction of the oil from the jojoba fruit or plant matter? If it does, to what extent does that impact on the quality and performance that users expect and get from the regular use of the oil either in cosmetic or pharmaceutical products? What is the best way to produce unrefined jojoba without jeopardizing the quality of the components and expectations of users?

There are different ways of extracting or producing Jojoba oil from the plant fruit resulting in the unrefined golden oil. Each method or process is known to deliver varying result in both quality and quantity of oil that is achieved. The methods include the following, which are often identifies with the type of end product:

• Cold pressed oil

• Hot or heat press oil

• Distillation precede by a prior process such as hot or heat pressing

• Expeller Pressed Oil

• Refined oil

• Mechanical extraction

• Solvent extraction

• Pale pressed oil

• Leaching

Cold Pressed Jojoba Oil

Cold Pressed Jojoba Oil, which represents the most popular for cosmetic and pharmaceutical grade Jojoba oil, could be said to be simple, straight forward and not needing a complex technological investment to procure and install the necessary equipment. Simple steps are involved.

Jojoba plant’s seeds, nuts or beans are harvested from the jojoba farm and gathered into a cold presser and squeezed or pressed. The oil is squeezed out under extreme pressure, which inevitably generates a certain amount of heat, despite the name. However, optimal temperature has been measured to be below 40oC (104oF).

To get best quality and quantity, it has also been suggested to keep it below 49oC (120.2oF). The temperature generated is a critical factor in maintaining the quality of the oil because of all the individual natural components that are susceptible to high and / or prolonged temperatures.

As in some food and food ingredients including meat proteins based, the natural components tend to be structurally fragile and destroyed in excessive heat or cooking. The required heat and length of heating tend to be calibrated to maintain the desired quality.

High temperature often denature, destroy or deconstruct the natural structure of the molecules in the oil components such as the vitamin B, vitamin E and some of the natural acids.

Cold pressing is done in relatively low temperature. No external heat is applied. At the pressing temperature the natural content of the oil are kept unchanged. Cold pressed Jojoba oil and indeed other cold pressed oils maintain the gift of nature in the various identified and yet to be identified components.

A higher yield can also be achieved.  This latter has added to the commercial attraction of the Cold Pressed method.

It is important to noted that SainBiotics Golden Jojoba Oil and SainBiotics Fine Beard Oil are not only natural and organic, the extraction or production method of the jojoba oil is the cold pressed process. Best quality jojoba oil is assured by the Cold Pressed process.

Hot or Heat Pressed Oil

Hot or Heat Pressed Jojoba oil in contrast to the Cold pressed method, there is a deliberated application of heat to the seeds or nuts before pressing process to force out the oil. One method is by roasting the seed in advance of pressing. The heat helps to force out the oil and also improves the overall quantity of oil extracted.  

The role of the heat is to help release the oil embedded in the seeds. However, heat is known to interfere with the quality of the oil by lowering the performances because it affects the individual components.

Expeller Pressed Oil

This is a single  a mechanical method for extracting the oil from the Jojoba seed or nut. The seeds are squeezed under high pressure in one step. Expeller pressing is very similar to Cold pressing but in certain cases the higher pressure is applied and the friction generate temperatures above 49oC. However, this happens for hard nuts. Custom made expeller machines are commercially available.

Mechanical Extraction

Mechanical extraction of natural jojoba oil is one of the oldest extraction process. By pressing alone, about 44% yield of jojoba oil relative to total seed weight can be obtained When pressing is followed by first and second pressing followed by leaching the yield has been found to increase to about 50% by weight.

 In mechanical extraction screw press are used to press the seeds or nuts to extract the oil in them. The seeds may be cracked or flaked, after which they are conditioned to an optimal temperature and moisture. The natural oil in the conditioned seeds is squeezed out with the screw press.

The jojoba oil obtained in the process are affected by various real time operating conditions which, may include and not limited  to the following, pressing pressure, press heat, temperature and storage conditions. These conditions impact both the quality and quantity of the final oil resulting from the process. Mechanical extraction does not require the addition of chemicals.

Solvent Extraction, Chemical Extraction Or Leaching Extraction

The three names are often used interchangeably.

When pressing is followed by leaching, solvent extraction or chemical extraction the total yield of the jojoba oil from the nuts or seeds has been found to increase from about 44% to about 50% by weight  of the seed.

Solvent extraction delivers different levels of yield and the quality may be affected particularly by the type and nature of solvent deployed in the extraction process. Residues of the solvent may be left in the final oil. It is important to identify and measure any such residue in the final product.

The solvents that could be used in the chemical extraction process including: hexane, benzene, toluene, petroleum ether, chloroform, and isopropanol. The quantity, purity and cost of the jojoba oil obtained can be impacted by the solvent, among other factors like temperature, used in the extraction process. This effect has been investigated by Abu-Arabi et al. (2000).

Petroleum ether is often recommended as the most cost effective solvent when cost is the most important consideration. Solvents used may present certain level of danger if not remove or reduced in a second step by  distillation. The type of solvent used present different types of chemical challenges in the process.

Of all the natural jojoba oil production or manufacturing methods and processes, as the case maybe, the best and most widely used one is the cold pressed method, which retains all the nature-stuffed natural components of the jojoba oil.

There is no externally applied or inputted ingredient in the Cold Pressed jojoba oil extraction process. Only minimal application of pressure from the pressing, which is not enough to interfere with these essential natural ingredients embedded in cold pressed jojoba oil extract.

Cold pressed jojoba oil is a wholesome true gift of nature, which components help to nourish, smoothen, refresh and rejuvenate human external body parts including all types of skin, face, fingers, nails and hairs.

It is important to mention that two key products offered by SainBiotics,  SainBiotics Golden Jojoba Oil and SainBiotics Fine Beard Oil, contain organic natural cold pressed jojoba oil that was sustainably grown in Egypt.

By

Dr SainBiotics

Reference

Abu-Arabi, M.K.  Allawzi, M.A. Al-Zoubi, H.S.  Tamimi, A.  (2000) Extraction of jojoba oil by pressing and leaching. Chem Engr Journal, 2000,  Vol 76, Issue 1, Jan 2000: pg. 61 – 65 (Elsevier).