You can find argan oil, as an ingredient, in many different personal care products and it has become pretty much like the pumpkin pie spice in October – you can not avoid it even if you tried!
And there must be solid reasons why the oil is often referred to as “liquid gold”. The oil’s properties are advocated to be so wide, that among making your hair, skin and nails look better, it could also improve your culinary experiences and make your life… just overall shinier.
Argan oil is a product, extracted from the kernels of the argan tree which is endemic to Morocco. The fruit of the tree is small and round and consists of a nut that is surrounded by a fleshy pulp and a thick peel. To obtain the kernel, the nut must be cracked. A curious fact about the extraction process is that it is all still done by hand – any attempts to mechanise the process have been unsuccessful so far. In other words, there are usually Berber women engaged in this time-consuming hard work. A point has been made, that the process provides female workers with an income in a traditionally male-dominated society and helps them in becoming more aware of their own rights.
A research from 2010, on the properties of argan oil, has found out that in comparison to other oils, argan oil contains higher levels of γ-Tocopherol, a chemical compound that is considered vitamin E, which possesses strong chemo-preventive and anti-inflammatory properties. In cosmetics, argan oil has become increasingly popular for its beneficial moisturizing, anti-aging and anti-acne properties and in culinary art, it is used as an ingredient for different dressings and dips.
The etymology of the word argan derives from the Berber language, spoken predominantly in Algeria and Morocco, to name the tree and its fruits. Most likely the name originated from the name of the Moroccan city of Agadir, where the tree is believed to have originated.
The Phoenicians have recorded back in 1550 BC, how the locals used the argan oil as a beauty and healing product to recover from their heavy daily labour.
It is believed, that it was the popular historian and diplomat Leo Africanus, who learned about the numerous benefits of the oil and brought it to Europe in 1510, where initially only the wealthy royals had the chance to explore its beautifying effects. And only centuries later the exotic commodity became a common part of the trade exchange between North America and Europe.
With the first written record in English print, to mention the argan tree, appearing in only 1809, when James Grey Jackson, who spent 16 years in Morocco, learning the language and absorbing the culture, published his Account of the Empire of Morocco.
And the first definition of the argan oil came out in the 1870s, in the 7th edition of the Ure’s Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, as: “Argan-oil,..expressed from the kernels of the Argania Sideroxylon”.
Nearly a century and a half later, the argan oil is coming back as an international sensation, highly praised by those who prefer organic substances.
