The Ancient Origins of Argan Oil

argan oil history start by based on Argan (Argania Spinosa) is a species of a tree endemic to the calcareous semi-desert of south-western Morocco in North Africa. it is the sole species in the genus Argania.

The Argan tree can reach a height of 32 feet and can live up to 200 years. It is thorny, with gnarled trunks. The leaves are small .78 to 1.57 inch long, oval with a rounded apex. The flowers are small, with five petals. The fruit is the size of an olive, each one is surrounded by a peel, and contains one (occasionally two or three) small seeds.

The argan forests now cover about 828,000 ha and are designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Their area has shrunk by about 50% over the last 100 years due to charcoal-making, grazing, and increasingly intensive cultivation.

For centuries Argan oil history, women in Southern Morocco; gathered together in cooperatives, have been passing down the traditional methods of extracting Argan Oil: How to gather and dry the fruit, crush the nuts, roast and grind the kernels, and finally knead the paste to extract the oil. It can take about 30 Kg of Argan Nuts and 10 to 12 hours of work to produce just one liter of oil.