by
Paul
BenhaimOils
The best taste for any oil is the taste test. Anyone with experience
is soon able to differentiate between a rancid, scratchy feeling at
the back of the throat and a smooth nutty tasting oil. Scientists
measure free fatty acid content as a clinical percentage. Hemp oil
is best when it contains no more than 2% as oleic acid. Refined
hemp oil reduces the free fatty acid content to negligible levels.
Peroxidased fatty acids are measured in milli-equivalent
(meq) oxygen per kg of oil. The PV for oil should not reach 10
meq./kg. Again, refining the oil reduces this amount due to the
reduction in quantity of available EFAs. Oil is pressed at around
120°F. Lower temperatures produce a nuttier and hazier oi. Higher
temperatures produce a darker, less nutty and greener oil.
Traditionally in Europe, as is still the case on more
developing countries, oil is pressed on small, village scale
machinery. Oils in such times are places were bought in small
quantities as it was well known that they would spoil quickly –
even though the fact that light, heat and oxygen were so
damaging to these fragile oils was not known.
In the 1920s oil seeds were planted in the fashion of ‘more
is better’. Large presses were built to replace the slow, cold
temperature and uneconomic batch presses. This made edible oil
more efficient and less labor intensive to produce. Later on it was
decided, as in the case of refined sugar and flours, to remove all
impurities. In the case of refined oil this led, amongst others, to
carotene, Vitamin E and lecithin being removed. These natural
preservatives that kept the oils from spoiling, were replaced with
synthetic varieties that would extend their shelf lives, although
they were devoid of life energy.
By the end of World War II more stable oils (oils containing
less of the beneficial EFAs) replaced oils rich in LNA. Due to
economics, the use of these more stable oils of poorer nutritional