Cotton oil: useful properties of the product

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Cotton oil is produced from the cotton plant by seed pressing or extraction. The fat content in the seeds is small, it rarely exceeds 25%. With the help of pressing, only 16-18% of the product can be squeezed out. This low yield is offset by the fact that cottonseeds are the waste of cotton production and are very cheap.

Cottonseed oil comes in several varieties, but only the first grade refined product is suitable for consumption. It has a golden yellow color. According to chemical analyses, all vegetable oils have similar properties. They contain a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids. The cotton product consists of them by 70-80%. Compared to other vegetable oils, this level is low.

Unsaturated fatty acids play a very important role in the metabolic process. The human body produces them in extremely small quantities, thereforethe deficiency is made up by food. Fatty acid deficiency can slow down the development of the developing organism and adversely affect the he alth of adults. It also leads to impaired cholesterol metabolism, which threatens atherosclerosis.

Cotton oil has significant benefits. It contains a large amount of vitamin E, which stimulates fat metabolism and is necessary for the normal functioning of the gonads. Another advantage of this product is a substance that strengthens blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

Dietitians recommend eating small amounts of cottonseed oil daily. Buying it is not so easy. It is rarely found on store shelves. This product is more in use in the countries of Central Asia. Other fatty oils are much easier to buy. Most cottonseed oil is produced in the USA.

The unrefined product contains such a toxic component as gossypol. The level of its concentration is determined by color. Unrefined oil is a liquid of a red-brown hue, sometimes up to black, bitter in taste and with a specific smell.

Properties and composition of cottonseed oil largely depend on the variety of plant from which it is produced, as well as on production conditions and growing area. In the chemical industry, cottonseed oil is used to produce drying oil. The crude product is used in folk medicine for the treatment of skin diseases andburns.

Recently, scientists have shown that the substance gossypol can become one of the main components of drugs for the treatment of HIV. Studies have shown that gossypol inhibits the development of the virus in the blood.

The production process of the product is quite simple. Seeds, separated from fluff, are crushed on special rollers, and then heated to 220 ° C in braziers. The heated raw materials are placed in wool bags, shifted with horsehair material and squeezed under a hydraulic press. Sometimes double pressing is used, first cold and then hot.