Synonym: Moroccan Ironwood Tree
Scientific Name: Argania Spinosa
Family: Sapotacea Description What would surprise you more: a goat in a tree or a tree in the desert? Only the stupendous argan tree can captivate those two elements in one image. As a true expert in surviving in the Moroccan desert, the tree assembles water in its leaves which is a serious delicacy for thirsty goats. The argan tree can have a cross-section of up to 14 meters and is actually rarely to be seen. Only during raining season, the mighty tree grows tendrils and blossoms and provides fruits whereupon it takes another two years before the olive-like yellow fruits become ripe. This is fairly quick if you compare the fact that the argan tree can live up to 200 years. The inside of the fruit includes a 3-cm-large nut surrounded by fleshy pulp, and it is this nut which contains one to three grape seeds which are even smaller than sunflower seeds but contain a high amount of valuable oil. Origin Southwestern Morocco, between Essaouira and Agadir. Ingredients
Argan oil consists of over 80 % of unsaturated fatty acids, of which approximately 37 % of linoleic acid and also oleine, palmatine and stearine acid and vitamin E. Good to know The argan tree is one of the oldest trees in the world and was already growing steadily in Southern Morocco over 80 million years ago. The tree was recorded for the very first time in 1219 by the renowned physician Ibn Al Baytar. Nowadays, the Moroccan argan oil is cultivated by the Berbers’ wives by an old technical process: after the harvest of July to September, the fruits are dried in open air. The rough nuts are cracked open by a stone and the obtained grape seeds are roasted on an open fire and crunched with a hand mill into a pulpy mass. With the help of a bit of water, this mass is molded into dough where the argan oil is squeezed out by hand by the Berbers’ wives. The dried fleshy pulp and the remains of the dough are fed to the cows and sheep.
