Oil Manufacturing

For thousands of years man has been extracting essential oils from plants. Vegetable oils are extracted from fruits and seeds that have a particularly high oil content. This history of oil dates back to antiquity.

The oldest oil plant is sesame. By 230 AD sesame oil was already part of the daily diet. The ancient Greeks used sesame oil for anointing on various occasions. How highly the Greeks valued oil is shown in Greek myths that also state that olive oil was eulogised as the nectar of the gods.

Nowadays various seeds and pips are harvested and processed for oil extraction all over the world. Nowadays we understand a great deal more about edible oils and people are also more prepared to follow a healthy diet. Oils are rated according to their nutritional value and their taste.

Nowadays there is a great range of edible oils available. The taste and quality of the oils is determined not only by the raw materials used but also by the manufacturing process involved.

The manufacture of cold-pressed oils

The cold pressing process involves a purely mechanical and gentle pressing without the use of additional heat. After pressing the oil only needs to be filtered. The gentle production process retains the fat-soluble vitamins A and E. Our cold-pressed oils are manufactured exclusively from selected high-quality oil seeds.

Oil - a high quality foodstuff

Fat is just as important a part of our nutrition as carbohydrates and proteins. Oils contain twice as much energy as proteins and carbohydrates. The fat molecules play an essential role in all this. These bond with three fatty acids and are therefore known as triglycerides.

There are three kinds of fatty acids:

· Saturated fatty acidsn
· Simple unsaturated fatty acids
· Polyunsaturated fatty acids

Overview of the fatty acid composition of our vita oils as PDF-Download

Essential fatty acids are very important because the human organism cannot produce them itself and it has to get them from food. The body needs fatty acids mainly for energy generation and building somatic cells.

Origin and Processing

Oil seeds and fruits are cultivated in many different countries. One thing all oil plants have in common is that they need a lot of sun - the more intensive the sunlight, the higher the oil quality. The oil content of the individual plants is between 30 and 40 %.

Each oil has its own special character, colour, smell and constituents.

After harvesting, the oil seeds are first dried and then cleaned. Until they are processed, the seeds are stored in silos and freshly pressed when needed. Only olives are pressed as soon as they have been harvested.

Oil shelf life

Every food has its shelf life. Oils are best stored where it is cool and dark. Storage in a refrigerator is ideal although some oils (e.g. groundnut oil, olive oil) tend to become flocculent when chilled. At room temperature they do however become clear again. This does not influence the quality in any way.