Sal seed oil has become the best alternative to cocoa butter for being exported to Europe from India because of its many benefits. It is because of its use in cooking and for making soap, paints, lubricants, paints, auto oil, etc. Also known as Shorea robusta seed oil, it is made from Shorea robusta indigenous to India. The best plant made by reputed manufacturers performs sal seed oil extraction processes like cracking, cooking, flaking and solvent extraction. If the sal tree is indigenous to India, the Karite nut tree is native to Africa to produce shea butter, which also has many benefits. It has high unsaturated fats, so it is helpful for cooking purposes, and with high oleic, linoleic and stearic acids, it helps solve many skin issues like peeling, rashes, etc.

 With so many benefits of sal seed oil and shea butter, it is essential to know about their extraction and refining, which we will discuss in this article in detail. 

 What is sal seed oil extraction? 

Sal or Shorea Robusta tree is one of the significant means of livelihood for the tribals and forest dwellers in Central Indian states. Sal seeds have many commercial uses for processing into oil and fats for use in global food and cosmetic needs. The sal seed extraction involves traditional water rendering and mechanical methods using an oil expeller & rotary mill. Another is solvent extraction using the best plant for pressing the seeds to flakes in a mill and other processes. The processes include cleaning, grading, separating, expressing, de-shelling, etc., to extract the maximum oil yield and minimize the ruminal degradation of other proteins to be useful for cow feed. 

 What is the best shea butter-making process?

 In recent decades shea butter's importance is increasing worldwide because of its use in cosmetic products. It has many versatile natural properties, making it the first preference of people worldwide, having growing awareness for using synthetic skin products. The skin quickly absorbs Shea butter because of its unsaturated fatty acids content, vitamins A, E, and D, and allantoin and phytosterols. Hence worldwide, people consider it one of the best anti-agents as it stimulates collagen production to reverse ageing signs. The shea butter making process involves traditional African methods or mechanical methods. The mechanical process involves a renowned manufacturer's best shea butter plant refinery. Since both ways do not use synthetic and chemical ingredients, it is known as virgin or raw shea butter. Many shea butter making processes include the following, among others. 

• Seed cleaning is the first process to remove dirt, dust, plant stalks, metal, and other fast-removable impurities
• Seed cooking or conditioning involves heating the shea kernel at a high temperature above 100 degrees Celsius to reduce the shea oil viscosity and coagulate the protein for easy separation.
• In the mechanical process, the seeds get pressed in a series of expellers or screw presses, not using any chemicals, to leave 15 to 18% residual in the cake for subjecting to solvent extraction
• Solvent extraction increases the shea butter yield by reducing the up to 18% oil to only less than 1.5% 
• Filtration is the following shea-making process that removes the suspended solids or feet that constitute 5 to 10% of the oil that is recyclable for further filtration for maximum yield
• Vacuum drying is the last process to remove the moisture to permissible limits to increase the shelf life.

Mectech, with nearly 45 years of experience in the oil and fat industry and has four state-of-the-art manufacturing units in India to export to over 20 countries, provide the best shea butter plant refinery and others to boost the business to new levels.