Tea seed oil (also known as camellia oil) is an edible, pale amber-green fixed oil with a sweet, herbal aroma. It is cold-pressed mainly from the seeds of Camellia oleifera but also from Camellia sinensis or Camellia japonica.
Tea oil has an extremely high smoke point (252 °C, 486 °F), as compared to other oils. It is the main cooking oil in the southern provinces of China—roughly one-seventh of the country's population. In Japan tea oil is derived from Camellia japonica, mainly from Goto Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture and Izu Islands of Tokyo Prefecture. Tea seed oil resembles olive oil and grape seed oil in its excellent storage qualities and low content of saturated fat. Monounsaturated oleic acid may comprise up to 88% of the fatty acids. It is high in vitamin E and other antioxidants and low in trans fat.
In addition to its use in salad dressings, dips, marinades and sauces, for sautéing, stir frying and frying and in margarine production, tea seed oil is used to manufacture soap, hair oil, lubricants, paint and a rustproofing oil as well as in synthesis of other high molecular weight compounds. Japanese tea seed oil is used for setting the hair of Sumo wrestlers and for tempura.
Tea seed oil should not be confused with Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca Oil), an essential oil extracted from the leaves of the paperbark Melaleuca alternifolia and used for medicinal purposes.
Tea seed oil is also not to be confused with the tea used in beverages. Tea seed oil is pressed from the seeds of Camellia Oleifera, whereas the dried leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant are used in black, green, jasmine and oolong teas. Camellia Oleifera and Sinensis are close cousins in the Camellia plant family, and it is therefore no surprise that tea seed oil boasts several of the wonderful nutritional health benefits of drinking tea.
The word 'tea' is derived from a Chinese character, pronounced as tê in the Min Nan dialect. |
