In this article, we shall be understanding what is a cold-pressed oil and whether or not, our subject matter, jojoba oil is made using cold-pressing. There is also a small discussion on the various use cases of jojoba.

In recent years, jojoba oil has changed the skincare and wellness routines all around the globe. The adaptation has come because jojoba has so many proven benefits like fighting acne, revitalizing dry skin, etc. Because of these and many more advantages that we shall discuss shortly, more and more people are adapting jojoba oil. Jojoba oil is majorly made using the cold pressing method. This article will take you through all the info you need to understand jojoba oil and cold pressing method. Jojoba oil is usually cold-pressed, which preserves various benefits of the oil. However, to understand why cold-pressing is so important, we shall first look at cold-pressing.

What is Cold Pressing

Cold pressing, as the name suggests, is a method to extract the oil from the fruit or the seed by pressing them in a machine or by manual practices. In simple words, cold pressing is a natural way to extract oil from any fruit or seed by simply squeezing or pressing it. The process usually has two steps –

a) converting the fruit/seed into a pulp, and

b) pressing the pulp into oil.

It is called cold pressing because the pressing happens in a cold environment, i.e., room temperature. The output of this procedure has all the natural qualities preserved and is low in acidity.

In recent years, more and more oils are being produced this way. The oil collected by the cold press (the machine used in this procedure) is of the purest quality and retains the highest nutritional value and aroma. From a health benefits perspective, cold-pressed oils have the highest quantities of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

According to a recent study, 1 in every 5 people in the world suffer from a Vitamin E deficiency, predominantly because of oils that aren’t extracted using a cold press. However, oils produced by the cold pressing method are costlier than others as the oil yield from this process is low compared to the oil yield of standard techniques. Because of this, it needs more natural products to produce the oil. That difference in cost is something one can bear if one wants 100% naturally made products.

Would you like to know what’s the healthiest oil for consumption? Click here (Is olive oil the healthiest fat?)

Some Examples of Cold-pressed Oils

Most commonly used oils for cooking and skincare routines can be made by the cold-pressing method. For example, cooking oils such as coconut, sunflower, olive, soybean, almond, apricot, corn, rice bran, etc., can be made by cold-pressing. However, not all kinds of oil can be procured using this process.

If we talk about skincare, a wide majority of dermatologists these days are recommending cold-pressed oils because cold-pressed oils work miracles on the skin. A good quality cold-pressed oil such as jojoba oil, castor oil, or virgin coconut oil can work wonders on your skin. They can enhance your hair growth, nourish and moisturize your skin, resulting in one of the best solutions for dry skin, wrinkles, and acne.

However, while cold-pressed oils are the most recommended oils by dermatologists for skin care, many health experts and nutritionists have advised to not use certain cold-pressed oils for cooking. You would be surprised to know but jojoba oil is on that list too.

cold pressed cooking oils like coconut, canola, sesame, sunflower must not be used for cooking, especially for deep frying. These oils do not combine well with heat and because of this, they are not even made by heating techniques.

These cold-pressed oils have a lot of unsaturated fats which tend to degrade when the oil is exposed to heat. If one uses these oils for frying, the unsaturated fats may break down and make the oil unfit for consumption.

Out of all the cold-pressed oils for cooking, oils like sesame and olive oil must not be heated too much, you can instead use them for sprinkling over different salads and cuisines.

What is Jojoba Oil Made of

Jojoba oil is made from a liquid-like sticky substance extracted from seeds of the jojoba plant. The jojoba plant and its benefits were first discovered by Jesuit missionaries in Baza, Arizona.

In ancient times, the primary step would be grinding the seeds. Then, the folks would apply the liquid paste or wax-like substance obtained, on their skin and hair to get extraordinary results. Not only this, native Americans used it to cure wounds and sores. Another use of jojoba oil and its seeds was facilitating trouble-free childbirth.

The native people call it ho-ho-ba, and both the plant and the seeds are used for various purposes. The seeds that produce the oil come from the female jojoba flowers. The female flowers harden to formulate a capsule. The capsule then sun dries itself and splits into seeds, which are the basic sources that produce jojoba oil. Jojoba oil has no odor or color, which makes it an ideal choice for skin care products.

The wax or the liquid jojoba oil, and sebum (natural oils produced by our body) have a close resemblance with each other in terms of composition, far more than any other substance in the plant world. Hence, human skin very readily accepts the jojoba oil, and impressive results can be observed once the jojoba oil is applied to the skin.

One thing to always keep in mind is that jojoba oil should never be consumed, under any circumstances. It contains erucic Acid, which can cause severe health conditions, including cardiac problems, if eaten.

Apart from this, jojoba oil has got no toxicity and no allergic reactions. It also does not clog the pores of our skin due to its near-perfect similarity with our skin’s sebum. Moreover, unlike most plant-based oils, it can withstand and endure hot conditions without losing its composition and properties. All thanks to the low levels of triglycerides in it!

Jojoba oil is entirely safe and helpful for all skin types and age groups. The Jojoba oil primarily consists of Vitamin E, Vitamin B complex, Gadoleic Acid (Eicosanoid Acid), Palmitic Acid, Behenic Acid, and Oleic Acid, among others. The various benefits of jojoba oil include:

– making skin less oily,

-natural lubricant for skin and hair,

– enhance hair growth,

– having high no of antioxidants, among others.

How is Jojoba Oil Made by Cold-pressing

Native to the desert areas in California and Mexico, jojoba oil is a prevalent ingredient in soaps, shampoos, moisturizers, and skincare products. Cosmetic manufacturers buy jojoba oil from a processing factory, where the oil is harvested, processed, and made ready for commercial use ahead.

In its natural state, jojoba is golden and has a slightly nutty odor. However, when refined, it can be colorless and odorless.

The refining process begins at a jojoba farm. A mechanical harvester works like a giant vacuum cleaner picking up the fallen jojoba seeds off the ground. All the accumulated seeds are then collected in a big hopper or a container, which further puts the roots into a cleaning machine.

The cleaning machine helps in sorting the seeds. The seeds in the device move from one conveyor belt to the other, passing through a series of vibrating screens. As we move from one screen to another, the mesh that comprises the screens keeps getting finer.

One after the other, it keeps on eliminating foreign particles such as weed, twigs, pests, dirt, etc., until just the seeds are left. The seeds are then packed in big container bags, and then shipped to the processing plant.

In the processing plant, the bags are emptied into a designated area called “a pit” for seeds. The seeds from the seed pits are transported to the pressing machines via big conveyor belts. The jojoba oil is contained in the white part of the jojoba seed, which is called Cotyledon. The conveyor belt processes the seeds into the press, and the cold-press machine, in turn, crushes and presses them against a shaft. This whole process forces the source to yield about 50% of the weight of the seed into jojoba oil.

Simultaneously, there is a secondary conveyor belt, which collects the liquid wax/oil and transports it to a holding container. The wax/oil is, then, fed into a filter press, which has multiple filter plates.

Each filter plate is covered with a filter cloth. As the liquid is made to pass through them, the filter cloth catches even the minutest solid particles resulting in nothing but the jojoba oil. To get rid of the yellow color, naturally made absorbents are added to the oil, which help take the colour out with them as they get separated. The absorbing process helps in getting the final jojoba oil product.

One last quality check happens as the oil is passed through an ultra-sensitive cartridge filter that removes any and every minute particle that may have been given an easy way in the earlier filter press.

This whole process produces two varieties of jojoba oil.

One is yellow and has a nutty aroma, and the second is the colorless and odorless variant.

Cosmetic companies can buy whatever type of variant they want, based on their need for the product. The difference in both variants is the addition of absorbents and refining materials.

Differences Between Hot-pressing and Cold-pressing

Both methods are used to process and manufacture oil. However, you would be shocked to know a slight difference in their environment would later be causing many differences.

In cold-pressing, the jojoba oil is obtained by pressing the seeds or the flower at room temperature. Further, the oil is filtered to remove any impurities.

In hot pressing, the seed of the flower is pressed at high temperatures. The oil is high in acidity and loses its natural composition. Additives are added to refine the hot-pressed oil and make it fit for use.

The yield in cold-pressing is usually 30–35% of the weight of the oil(50% in the case of jojoba oil, which is an exception), while the yield in the case of hot-pressing is usually 35-40%. This difference in the procurement is because of the temperature and different processes used at the time of producing the oil through hot pressing.

As a result, cold-pressed oils retain almost all of their natural composition and properties. In contrast, hot-pressed oils lose most of their nutritional properties. This is because pressing at high temperatures results in a chemically different product. In most cases, essential components like Vitamin E, carotenoids, sterols, etc., are lost.

While the cold-pressed oil may be colorless and odorless, the hot-pressed oil might have a good aroma, given the small addition of refinements and synthetic parts, while altering most of the properties of the liquid.

Can You Make Jojoba Oil by Hot-pressing

The short answer is “NO”.

Even if you search for it online, you would not find any resources or links, explaining its production by the hot-pressing technique.

Although jojoba oil can withstand high temperatures, producing it through a hot-pressing technique will increase its acidity and change its purity level. Unfortunately, applying heat will also result in the breakdown and degradation of sensitive molecules, thus, reducing the final output quality. As a result, more chemicals will have to be added to reduce its acidity and increase the purity. This process will yield in the final product being a less pure and impure form of jojoba oil.

Since cosmetic manufacturers use jojoba oil in making their products, it has to be of the utmost purity.

Ideally, there should be no tampering with the output. So, we can only achieve a pure form of jojoba oil by producing it through cold-pressing techniques. Hence, it is neither advisable nor recommended to make jojoba oil by hot-pressing.

Although jojoba plant gets cold-pressed in order to preserve its nutrients, did you know that you still can’t be cooking with jojoba?

Yes, find out here can you cook with jojoba oil?

Conclusion

Not only is jojoba oil cold-pressed, it happens to be the only right way to make jojoba oil. Moreover, cold-pressing is the best method of making any oil really, especially for skincare and beauty products.

Not only would hot-pressing result in oxidation, which leads to various compounds being lost, refining it further leads to the degradation of its quality.

Scientists around the globe know and promote the extraction of oil only using cold-pressing. The absence of any external substances in the manufacturing process results in an all-natural oil.

The best form of jojoba oil will be the one that is extracted using the cold-press method. The health benefits of the cold-pressed jojoba oil are far more incredible than the jojoba oil produced by any other method as heat is not applied during cold-pressing.

Lastly, jojoba oil produced by cold-pressing will have the highest health benefits for skin and its related issues, hair growth and maintenance, and many other tissues of the body.