oil

The Argan (Argania spinosa, A. sideroxylon Roem. & Schult.) is a species of to the calcareous semi-desert valley of southwestern and to the Algerian region of in the western . It is the sole species in the genus Argania.
Argan oil is produced by several women's co-operatives in the region.The most labour intensive part of oil-extraction is removal of the softpulp (used as animal feed) and the cracking by hand, between twostones, of the hard nut. The seeds are then removed and gently roasted.This roasting accounts for part of the oil's distinctive, nuttyflavour. The traditional technique for oil extraction is to grind theroasted seeds to paste, with a little water, in a stone rotary quern.The paste is then squeezed between hands to extract the oil. Theextracted paste is still oil-rich and is used as animal feed. Oilproduced by this method will keep 3-6 months, and will be produced asneeded in a family, from a store of the kernels, which will keep for 20years unopened. Dry-pressing is now increasingly important for oilproduced for sale, as the oil will keep 12-18 months and extraction ismuch faster.

Argan oil is sold in Morocco as a luxury item (although difficult to find outside the region of production) , and is of increasin