The steps and transformations of the manufacture of food argan oil

1. Harvest
Traditionally, fruits are eaten by livestock; after digestion of the pericarp (pulp), the fruit stone are recovered. Today, berries are picked by perch in July-August.

2. Drying
The fruit is then dried in the sun to facilitate the removal (separation of the pulp and core by crushing).

3. Fruit peeling by hand
The peeling is done either by the women by a slight crushing of the whole fruit against a stone that serves as a support so as to separate the dried pulp from the nuclei.
The goats also participate in the dusting by eating the pulp and rejecting after the nut.

4. Manual nut crushing
Crushing is a long and delicate phase because care must be taken not to crumble the almond. It is made between two stones, one serving as a support, the other as a hammer. The cores are then broken in half to remove the almonds.

5. Roasting over low heat
The almonds are then roasted over low heat in earthen dishes. According to the women, the purpose of this operation is the development of the color, smell and taste of the oil to be extracted. It is this operation that by drying the almonds gives a nutty taste to the oil.

6. Malaxing and pressing with a grindstone
The almonds are then ground, ground with a traditional mill (special stone grinder similar to the grain grinder), which makes it possible to obtain a paste. The resulting paste is kneaded, added warm water and pressed to extract argan oil with a sweet nutty scent.

The oil is then left to rest; it then becomes lipid and its color is brownish; decanted, it becomes considerably clarified by abandoning a dark residue, called a “wedo” that still contains a small amount of oil and is used as feed for livestock.