REAL GOLDMINE

Argan Oil

For centuries the Berber tribes of south western Morocco have used Argan oil as a basic component of their diet and as a traditional medicine. In the earlier nineties, chemical researches confirmed the valuable nutritional and dermatological properties of the Argan oil (including its use as a treatment for acne, wrinkles and wounds).

Argania Spinosa

Argan (Argania Spinosa), also known as thorny olive tree, has characteristics of Sapotaceae family, leathery leaf, small, with yellow flowers, and the fruit as dates...Argan is of slow growth, taking five to six years to bear its first fruit. 

Argan tree is heat resistant and can withstand temperature up to 50ºC. It can reach 8m to 10 m in height. The trunk is short and tortuous. The fruit is the size of a walnut, yellow or sometimes red. It consists of a fleshy husk that covers the hard bone.

Goats climbing Argan tree

The fruit of this tree, from which oil is extracted, begins to mature with the first warm days of June, and is traditionally collected in a very original way: it is harvested by goat.

When the grass is scarce, goats climb the trees to eat their leaves, its sprouts and fruit. At night, animals begin to chew and spit the bones of the fruit; big as acorns and hard as almonds. The pastor then collects them without being stuck even once. Another method is to collect them under the tree when they have fallen ripe and let them dry, to later peel and remove the bone.


Dermatologists recommended Argan oil for sunburn relief and to combat skin diseases such as neurodermitis and psoriasis.

In modern cosmetology Argan oil is applied to the skin for its regenerative effect. French scientists from the university of Metz have succeeded to prove that the oil causes a rejuvenation of the cells. According to the German physician Dr. Peter Schleicher, taking two tea spoons a day of the oil is sufficient to enjoy its healing effects.

The extraction of this oil is totally handmade; there are no factories for industrial extraction. 100 Kg of ripe fruit is composed of 50 litres of water, 22 Kg of dry pulp that the cattle use, 25 Kg of shells that serve the fire and only 3 Kg of pipes, where oil is extracted by a really handmade and Neolithic method. Each bone is cracked, a task performed by women ad children, and contains 3 pipes similar to those of pumpkins. These are roasted until they begin to blacken, then crushed and grinded in a rustic stone mill until a thick and opaque honey starts to drip from the mouth of the mill. It has the consistency of a sesame cream. During one week, it rests in a cool dark place until it dries. Women form balls they will tighten until, little by little, the oil of that semi-dry past begins to dry. The oil is light and transparent, lighter and more digestive than the olive's, brown and strong, with sweet flavour.

Argan oil is the most expensive oil in the world, hence it is also called the liquid gold of Morocco. A 20 cl of extra virgin Argan oil can easily cost a whopping 17€ .