Argan oil and its laborious production

Harvest time

Even if the wealth of Argan fruits covers the entire tree, giving it a golden-yellow air, the Berbers do not pick the nuts because of the tree’s thorny branches, which can cause harmful damages. To harvest Argan fruits can be compared with climbing onto a cactus. To shake the trees with the help of machines, as can be done with olive trees for instance, is not possible either, because mechanical shaking would cause the dry and brittle branches of the Argan trees to break off and all existing blossoms with them.

During this time, any grazing within the Argan woods is not permitted and the Berbers have patiently waited for the Argan fruits to fall off the trees by themselves, they gather them by hand and put them on the roofs of their loam houses to air-dry. This practice makes sure that the fruits can be stored for years and, on demand, used for Argan oil extraction.

A hobby Berber style

Just as needed, mostly once a month and in their leisure time, the women of the house gather in order to produce the highly valuable Argan oil in a very elaborate procedure: one liter pure Argan oil for instance requires about 30 kg of fruits and 8 hours of hard work. By comparison, for one liter olive oil, only five to ten kilos of olives are necessary.

How to peal Argan fruits

In order to separate pulp and almond, first of all, the dry and for humans inedible fruit pulp (the pericarp) is squashed between two stones. The pulp is then stored and later used as premium-quality concentrated feed for the domestic animals during the dry period, whereas the extracted light-brown almonds are provided for further processing.

A tough nut to crack for the Berber women

In painstaking detail work the nuts are then cracked between two stones, whereas it is taken care, that the almonds contained in the nuts remain undamaged. Each nut usually contains two or three almonds, from which the Argan oil is extracted. Argan almonds are of pumpkin seed size and also called pits or seeds.

Unusual skills are necessary in order to unite strength and sure instinct in one single stroke. The Argan nut, which has to be hit exactly at its suture to be opened, is fifteen times harder than a hazel nut. Anyway, the author’s approach to copy this action put a broad smile on the faces of all attendees.

The art of roasting according to the old rules

Our Argan oil is available in three variations. For the traditionally derived oil variation „Classic“ Argan almonds are roasted. The tradition of roasting these oil-containing almonds accentuates and improves the nutty oil flavor. To preserve the high quality of the Argan oil the Argan almond’s roasting takes place over a light open wood fire by occasional stirring and without the almonds having any direct flame contact.

For the variation „Light“, the almonds - as the name already implies – are lightly roasted in order to preserve a milder aroma (i.e. smell and taste) of the Argan oil.

For the variation „Basic“, the Argan almonds are not roasted at all, that way ensuring that the derived Argan oil is free of any roasting aromas and, as far as possible, taste-neutral.

Whether for Classic, Light or Basic, selected Argan almonds and professional preparation make our Argan oil a perfect delight.

Argan oil extraction is a craftmanship

After the Argan almonds have cooled down, they are grinded in a manually powered stone mill. The almond mash, which is slowly running out of the mill, is expelled of the oil with workmanlike care by constant kneading and the addition of tepid water. After that, the unfiltered oil is decanted into vessels.

The brown press cake, that remains after this procedure will either be used as premium quality concentrated feed in the animal husbandry or it will be sold on the local souk. Even the nut shells will not be thrown away, for they make very good heating fuel.

In a word, everything the Argan tree provides, is of use for us.

Argan oil decantation and filtration

After the pressing, the Argan oil is filled into a decanter. Due to pressing residues the fresh oil is rather turbid at first. After a resting period of about 2 weeks all turbidities, suspended solids and solid components settle to the vessel bottom and create the oil’s sediment (also known as decantate or depot). The clear Argan oil is then carefully decanted and, to ensure clearly improved quality, afterwards filtered. Depending on the degree of purity required the oil becomes filtered up to three times. After this procedure the Argan oil is again decanted into a vessel.

A clearly better quality can be achieved by a filtration of the Argan oil after the pressing. Depending on the degree of purity required the oil becomes filtered up to three times. After this procedure the Argan oil is again decanted into a vessel.

About one month after its pressing, the Argan oil has developed all its typical characteristics, whereas fresh Argan oil is always a particularly flavorful challenge.

A small amount of sediment remaining in the sales units cannot be avoided and does not at all influence the quality of the Argan oil. The sediment rather proves the naturalness of the oil and that it has not been refined. By shaking the bottle, the sediment dissolves in the oil, but our recommendation is, to actually leave it at the bottom.