Meadowfoam seed oil is a

seed oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats ...

, extracted from the seeds of ''

Limnanthes alba ''Limnanthes alba'' is a species of flowering plant in the meadowfoam family known by the common name white meadowfoam. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet grassy habitat, such as vernal pools and moist spots in woodland ...

'' (meadowfoam). The seeds contain 20-30% oil. Meadowfoam seed oil is extraordinarily stable, primarily because it contains over 98% long chain

fatty acids In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, f ...

. Meadowfoam oil is most similar to

rapeseed oil Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...

, with which it competes directly for the high-volume industrial oilseed applications. Meadowfoam oil is widely used in cosmetic and hair-care applications due to its stability, emolliency and smooth, soft skin feel. The oil in its unpurified form is not suitable for human consumption, primarily because of its

erucic acid Erucic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, denoted 22:1ω9. It has the chemical formula CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)11COOH. It is prevalent in wallflower seed and other plants in the family Brassicaceae, with a reported content of 20 to 54% in h ...

content.

References

Vegetable oils {{vegetable-oil-stub