Why does the same seed produce different oil yields?

Vegetable oils are not simply delicious and nutritious foods — they are an essential and highly important part of our daily diet. Since people first learned how to produce them more than 7,000 years ago, fats and oils have been used not only in cooking, but also in traditional medicine, home cosmetics, everyday life, and even religious practices. One of the oldest oil extraction techniques is cold pressing.

The first manual wooden oil presses appeared in the 2nd millennium BC in Greece and on the island of Crete. Modern oil pressing machines are extremely powerful, operate automatically, and require no special knowledge, skills, or significant effort from the operator.

Most people who press vegetable oils at home have encountered a common situation: raw materials that appear to be identical can produce significantly different oil yields.

Reasons for different oil yields from the same raw material

The amount of oil obtained from the same variety of nuts or seeds depends on several factors, including:

• Growing conditions. If the summer was not sufficiently sunny and was particularly rainy, plant seeds may accumulate more moisture and contain less fat. Extremely hot and dry weather can also result in seeds and nuts maturing with a lower oil content;
• Proper storage and storage time. Very old, spoiled, or excessively dried raw materials generally produce a much lower oil yield;
• Moisture content. The optimal moisture level is approximately 6%. If seeds or nuts are too dry, they may crumble during pressing and clog the press. If they are too moist, they release oil poorly and can turn into a paste-like mass during the pressing process;

To increase oil yield, the raw material can be roasted or pre-ground. This can increase the amount of extracted oil by approximately 10–15%, and sometimes by up to 20%. However, the quality of the resulting oil will not be comparable to natural, «live» oil obtained through cold pressing of whole, untreated seeds or nuts.

Contrary to popular belief, oil press power does not directly determine the oil yield from a particular type of raw material. However, a motor that is too weak may stall when processing hard crops such as grape seeds, milk thistle seeds, and similar materials.

At the same time, a 50-ton press can produce a higher overall oil output than a 20-ton press because it can process a larger amount of raw material in a single cycle.

Oil presses and raw materials from CraftOil

CraftOil offers an excellent and regularly updated selection of equipment for home and commercial oil production. Our catalog includes branded oil presses with different capacities. All equipment comes with a 1-year official manufacturer’s warranty and is supplied with everything necessary for operation.

The 20-ton channel-frame press, 20-ton plate press, 30-ton hydraulic press (disassembled), 30/30-ton twin press, and 30-ton Ukrainian modular press are ideal for home use. They are compact, practical, and allow you to make natural oils for yourself and your family.

The 50-ton Combo press, 50/50-ton twin press, 50-ton Italian press, 70-ton Austrian press, and 50-ton Ukrainian modular press are designed for those who want to turn oil pressing into a business by producing and selling delicious and nutritious natural oils.

CraftOil also offers a wide range of raw materials, including white amaranth seeds, black and white sesame seeds, three varieties of mustard seeds, walnut kernels, apricot kernels, and many other natural seeds and nuts.

To learn more about our products, discover the benefits and opportunities of pressing your own vegetable oils, and/or choose an oil press with a wooden or polymer barrel, simply submit an inquiry through our website and wait for our managers to contact you.