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Known as the “Tree of Life” to the Berbers for the many health benefits it brings, this spiny tree (argania spinosa) grows exclusively in the south-west of Morocco in the Souss Plain, where there are 21 million trees covering almost 800,000 hectares. As a rare and endangered species, the argan forest was declared an International Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1999. The Argan tree can reach a height of between 8 and 10 metres and some have been known to live as long as 200 years. The root system extends to a considerable depth, which helps to protect against soil erosion and hold back the encroachment by the Sahara Desert. The tree bears hermaphrodite flowers which appear in May or June and are greenish yellow, or sometimes white. These are followed by the fruit. The fruit is an oval berry, the size and shape of a large olive, which contains a nut with one or two seeds. A tree can produce up to 8 kg of fruit per year, i.e. an average of 128,000 tonnes per year for all the Moroccan argan trees. |
| ARGAN OIL : |
The production of argan oil and its by-products is the preserve of the Berber women, and the techniques of argan oil extraction are based on traditional knowledge that has been passed from mothers to daughters of Berber families down the centuries.
The result is miraculous oil, which finally found its way across the Mediterranean to Europe and the rest of the world a few years ago. Between June and August, they harvest the ripe fruit that has fallen to the ground. This fruit is dried for several weeks in the sun, then the women crack the nut between two rocks to extract the precious, oil-rich seeds. The nut is reputed to be sixteen times harder than a hazelnut. This work is hard: in one working day, a woman can produce from 1 to 1.5kg of seeds. 100kg of ripe fruit will become 60kg of dry fruit: 30 kg of dry pulp and 30 kg of nuts. Of the 30kg of nuts, only 3kg of seeds will be extracted. That 3kg of seed will provide around 1 litre of oil after cold pressing. The seeds are ground to a paste using a rotary hand stone and a quern. Water is then added to the paste and it is squeezed by hands to extract the oil. This manual process extracts 70% of the oil from the seeds. |
| THE MIRACULOUS OIL : |
| Argan oil has always been used by the Berbers of the Atlas Mountains as protection from the harsh climatic conditions; the strong winds and the burning sun. Throughout their lives, they use it for: • massaging babies and infants, • healing over chicken pox spots, • treating eczema and adolescent acne, • softening the skin of pregnant women and preventing stretch marks, • massaging into the joints to treat rheumatism in adults, • cooking in traditional Moroccan dishes. |