Mustard oil from mustard seeds - A detailed and step by step oil making process

Hello Friends, hope you all are well and enjoying your time.

Mustard oil is very popular in Southeast Asian countries. Especially in Bangladesh and India the use of this oil can be noticed. Mustard oil is especially used in cooking. However, many people use this oil on the skin and on the scalp.

In the Mustard oil you will find 61% fatty acids, approximately 12% saturated fats , 40% erucic acid, 12% oleic acid, 23% polyunsaturated fats and 16% the omega-6 linoleic acid.

Mustard seeds

Mustard oil

Mustard oil is usually derived from mustard seeds. To get mustard seeds, the farmer has to cultivate mustard in the field. Mustard is usually cultivated in winter in Bangladesh. Winter here is usually from December to February. So this is the best time to cultivate mustard.

Mustard flowers

A land is first allotted for mustard cultivation. Mustard seeds are sown in the field after making it suitable for mustard cultivation. Mustard cultivation like other crops is not so troublesome and does not require too much care. Gradually the mustard plant grows bigger and all the fields turn yellow with mustered flowers. This is a wonderful sight. When the mustard is matured, the farmer brings it home.

Mustard flowers

Different types of mustard are cultivated in Bangladesh. Black mustard, brown mustard and white mustard are some of them. After that the mustard seeds have to be dried well. If the mustard seeds are not dried well, good quality oil is not available due to the presence of moisture. I saw different types of mustard seeds drying at the mill where I went to see the mustard oil making process. These pictures are given here.

The dried seeds are then taken to a machine to make oil. There are two methods for making mustard oil from mustard. One is the manual method and the other is the automatic method. Today I will show you the process of making oil by automatic machine. Mustard seeds are first put into the machine to make oil. Then the machine is turned on.

After turning on the oil making machine, the oil is extracted by pressing the mustard seeds in different steps. Here are the pictures of making mustard oil.

The residue materials of the oil is called khail. It is used as cattle feed.

There is much debate about the pros and cons of mustard oil. Two types of results were found in the test. You can find more from Wikipedia-

Two studies on health effects of mustard oil have been conducted in India, which had conflicting results. One found that mustard oil had no protective effect on the heart, and the authors reckoned that the benefits of alpha-linolenic acid were outweighed by the harm of erucic acid,[10] while another study found that mustard oil had a protective effect, and the authors reckoned that the benefits of alpha-linolenic acid outweighed the harm of erucic acid.

However, the people of this subcontinent take this oil from their faith without considering the test results.

I have used my iPhone 11 Pro Max mobile phone to capture above pictures.

Thanks.

Stay safe and healthy.