Plant oils are vital for nutrition, lighting, and soap making. In an emergency, you can extract them yourself.
🌻 Cold Pressing
- Temperature: Below 40°C
- Quality: Highest – vitamins are preserved
- Yield: 30-40% of seed weight
- Suitable for: Flax seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
- Device: Oil press (hand-operated or mechanical)
🔥 Hot Pressing
- Temperature: 60-100°C
- Quality: Medium – more nutrients destroyed
- Yield: 40-50% – higher than cold pressing
- Suitable for: Rapeseed, soy, cotton seeds
- Disadvantage: Oil oxidizes faster
💧 Extraction with Solvent
- Process: Hexane or ethanol as solvent
- Yield: Up to 98%
- Quality: Low – residues possible
- Industrial: Soybean oil, sunflower oil
- In emergency: Not recommended (poison hazard)
🪔 Oils as Lamp Fuel
- Rapeseed oil: Best suited for oil lamps
- Linseed oil: Good, but expensive and quickly becomes rancid
- Sunflower oil: Works, but produces more soot
- Important: Wick must be chosen correctly (cotton)
🧼 Oils for Soap Making
- Saponification: Oil + lye (sodium hydroxide/potassium hydroxide)
- Rapeseed oil: Soft soap, good for beginners
- Coconut oil: Hard soap, lots of foam
- Olive oil: Mild soap, nourishing
📊 Oil Plants Comparison
| Plant | Oil Content | Pressing | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunflower | 40-50% | Cold/Hot | Food, Lamp |
| Rapeseed | 40-45% | Cold/Hot | Food, Lamp, Soap |
| Flax seeds | 35-45% | Cold only | Food, Wood |
| Walnut | 60-70% | Cold | Food, Cosmetics |
| Olive | 20-30% | Cold | Food, Soap |