Argan oil trees

Originally uploaded by Julie70.

Originally uploaded by With A Jacket For My Pillow: the journeys of Mike.

These beautifully twisted trees dot the hills and valleys of much of southern Morocco. People here have been producing an oil for eating and as a skin cream for generations and only recently has it become a high end export (see the photo later of women grinding for more of the story on argan oil). The tree itself is a work of art and they can get fairly large. I could do a whole project just taking portraits of these trees with their distinctive personalities.

by With A Jacket For My Pillow: the journeys of Mike

Originally uploaded by euanpreston

Argan Trees in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

by euanpreston

Originally uploaded by Robbie's Photo Art

These goats love the fruit from the Argan Tree.

by Robbie's Photo Art

Goats climbing argan tree

Originally uploaded by s_st.

The inner nuts of the fruits of the argan tree can be pressed to make oil that can be used in cooking or cosmetics. This process is possible even if the nuts have been through the digestive systems of climbing goats like these.
Morocco, March 2007

by s_st

Argan almonds through the handmade mill

Originally uploaded by Aceduline.

The argan almonds are added to this handmade mill through its hollowed top part.

Originally uploaded by corv.

Moroccan women preparing argan oil

, originally uploaded by Aceduline.

Women extracting oil from Argan seeds

Originally uploaded by Julie70.

Originally uploaded by Julie70.

Roasting argan almonds

Originally uploaded by dianjo.

Originally uploaded by kp-snaps

Argan Oil Co-operative

Originally uploaded by dianjo.

Argan oil production

Argan oil production
Originally uploaded by The Brentford Tailor

Breaking argan nuts shells

Originally uploaded by dianjo

Originally uploaded by kp-snaps

Originally uploaded by dianjo

Argan Oil salesman between Essauoira and Agadir - Morocco

Originally uploaded by paul.emms

Grinding and persing argan almonds

Originally uploaded by corv

Originally uploaded by ImAzIr

Originally uploaded by ImAzIr

Goats grazing argan tree

Originally uploaded by Miss Eudoxia

Originally uploaded by Aceduline

Goats like the pulp of argan fruits and often try to climb the trees to get them. They will digest the pulp, but shed the undigested seeds in their feces. As these have shells that are somewhat softened and easier to crack, they are occasionally used to produce oil for non-culinary purposes. An urban legend has it that all argan oil is produced this way. This myth seems to be based on the fact that occasionally, shrewd traders would have sold (and may still try to sell) such "non-food grade" argan oil to ignorant travellers or tourists. The fact that the nuts acquire a foul aroma in passing through the animal's digestive tract makes it easy to tell this oil apart from food-grade produce with its rich, walnut oil-like flavor.

By Aceduline

Originally uploaded by atsjebosma

Argan Tree Morocco

Originally uploaded by Alarabesque

Tree argan, which exists only in the area of the South of Morocco. A very rich oil is extracted from the fruits of this tree: oil argane, very appraisal by the companies of cosmetic. In 1999, UNESCO, declared the argan universal inheritance, and this, in order to protect it by the means of the World Network of the Biosphere (World Biosphere Network Reserve). Photo catch with Has Baamarane, tribe Berber of the South of Morocco.

Arbre arganier, qu'on ne trouve que dans la région du Sud du Maroc. Une huile très riche est extraite des fruits de cet arbre : huile d'argane, très prisée par les sociétés de cosmétique. En 1999, l'Unesco, a déclaré l'arganier patrimoine universel, et ce, afin de le protéger par le biais du Réseau Mondial de la Biosphère (World Biosphere Reserve Network).

Photo prise à Ait Baamarane, tribu berbère du Sud du Maroc.

By Alarabesque

Peppers and Argan oil

Pimientos en aceite de Argán, originally uploaded by escribirconlacabeza.

Argan is an endemic tree of the zone of Essaouira (Morocco), in barren zones occupies more than 650,000 has. in form of clear forests that they do not exceed the 1,500 ms of altitude. Tree of great vitality, of twisted trunks and foliage persistent of small and extended leaves, its fruits, nuts similar to the olives, that have a hard bone that contains almonds of which an orange oil very perfumed is extracted: argan. Its persistent foliage offers to the cattle a true hanging grass, to the goats it enchants to them, and they do not doubt in climbing for upper ramonear in of the tree, offering a singular image that does not happen unnoticed to the step visitor. The nuts are harvested of form similar to the harvesting of olives, of the almonds that there are inside the bone is extracted the perfumed oil, is an oil of strong flavor, that is used as much in the Moroccan gastronomy within the kitchen as in crude. Also curativos powers are attributed to him, reason why we found it in herbolisterias and the stores of homeopatía. The almonds of the bones are extracted and they are ground in stone mills of small size that there is in the Moroccan rural houses. They do lack 100 kg of mature fruits and ten working hours with a homemade mill to obtain a liter of oil.

By escribirconlacabeza

Argan Oil and Tree

moved to: How argan oil is produced