There are a variety of names for direct pressed oils in the market – there are enough popular and promoted products for which there is stable demand. We are talking about oils such as black cumin, sea buckthorn, rose hip, grape seed, amaranth, sesame, pumpkin seed, flaxseed, milk thistle and many others.
Sometimes products of this type are also referred to as cold-pressed oils, which is not entirely true as only part of these oils, the most expensive segment, is actually made by cold-pressing. Most oils of this type, especially in the most popular lower and partly in the middle price segment, are actually produced by hot pressing – this process is cheaper to produce, but at the same time significantly reduces the quality of the product, as it leads to the loss of some extractive biologically active Compounds leads to unsaturated fatty acids becoming rancid.
With the help of CO2 extracts, you can easily create an analog of any type of direct pressed oils, or even an entire line at once, including the items that, from the customer’s point of view, have the greatest commercial prospects.
This possibility arises from the fact that every direct extraction oil consists of two main components: fatty oils (a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in one ratio or another) and an extractive part made up of lighter biologically active compounds. In terms of the composition of their ingredients, fatty oils are roughly the same for all oils from direct extraction – these are mainly unsaturated fatty acids of the “Omega” class. Of course, the proportions of these acids in each type of oil are different – in some cases closer to the ideal in terms of absorption and benefits, in some less, but the nomenclature of compounds in the composition of fatty oils is almost the same. Also the effect on the human body will be roughly the same in all cases, only stronger in some cases and less in some.
But the composition of the lighter extracts in all direct-pressed oils is quite different. In black seed oil, for example, thymoquinone is the main active ingredient, in amaranth oil squalene and in sea buckthorn and rose hip oil these are carotenoids. The beneficial effects of cold-pressed oils on the human body is a net effect to which both fatty oils and extractive compounds contribute. The proportions of the resulting contribution to the positive effect between the two components are each different. In the case of olive oil, for example, its positive properties are mainly determined by fatty oils, while black cumin or amaranth oil are extractive compounds. There are also cases in which the resulting beneficial effect is evenly distributed between both components – for example with grape oil.
In addition, extractive compounds can be extracted much better with liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2 extraction) than cold or even more hot pressing. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that a fully usable CO2 extract can be produced from black cumin, while nothing else can be obtained from it by pressing. The reason for this is an important technological nuance of the CO2 extraction process – the “explosion” of raw materials with a sharp drop in pressure. The “explosion” destroys the cell walls and their contents can easily be washed out by the extractant. With conventional pressing there is no explosion because the impact force of even the strongest press cannot be compared with the energy of the explosive expansion of a gas. As a result, not all valuable extractive compounds can be obtained from raw materials by pressing. Fatty oils, on the other hand, only pass into the CO2 extract to a very limited extent and are obtained much more efficiently by pressing.
On the basis of this data, a constructor oil scheme is created, in which the production of the end product (analog oil) is based on any oil (olive, sunflower, soybean) that is suitable in terms of the parameters, and a CO2 extract with the corresponding name is used as the extractive part . This scheme is best suited for the preparation of analogues of such oils, in which the main factor of beneficial effects is precisely the extractive part, such as black cumin and amaranth oils.
But making analogues of oils such as sunflower, olive or soybeans is meaningless according to this scheme, since in these cases the extractive part is insignificant and the main part of the beneficial effect is formed by fatty oils. The best thing is that in this scheme they are suitable for the role of a carrier.
- The ability to quickly get a line of products to market that already has real demand and start selling immediately without incurring significant advertising costs.
- The possibility of precisely creating a line for a certain price segment and a certain target group – the concentration of the CO2 extract in analog oils can easily be changed by integrating the product into a cheaper or, conversely, into a more expensive market segment. You can also switch base oils – you can use refined oils for the cheaper segment, and unrefined oils for the more expensive ones.
The following should be emphasized as further advantages.
CO2 extracts have a long shelf life. This way you can save products for future use and you don’t risk them being damaged by rancidity. At the same time, when using refined oil as a carrier, the shelf life of such a product is many times higher than the shelf life of direct pressed oils, and it can be produced in small batches as needed.
CO2 extracts are very compact and extremely unpretentious in terms of storage conditions (you can store them in a normal closet at room temperature). It is much easier to stockpile the extract for the production of a line of 5-7 items than the raw material itself, for which a large warehouse is required. In addition, the storage of raw materials is associated with a fairly high risk of spoilage and the shelf life (at least in a condition suitable for pressing) is significantly shorter than the shelf life of a CO2 extract.
Analog oils based on CO2 extracts and carrier oils are easier and cheaper to produce than oils that are pressed directly. Basically, only an agitator and a dispenser with a labeler are required. No pressing tools required. Here, too, the demands on the quality of the premises and their dimensions are extremely modest.
Thus, using a designer oil system enables customers to quickly develop and market a line of products with stable demand without incurring high costs for organizing production. Production takes place according to a single technological scheme, under the simplest technological process, using the same type of ingredients (carrier oils and CO2 extracts). If necessary, it will be possible to connect contract manufacturing to the output – the number of companies that can fulfill an order for oil filling is much higher than that of cold pressing.
The article presents only the most general facts about this promising direction. More detailed information will be provided upon request.