Particles in your moringa oil ? Rejoice !
THE PARTICULES AND CLOUDY DEPOSITS IN YOUR MORINGA OIL AREN’T A DEFECT ! THEY’RE A SIGN OF HIGH QUALITY
Moringa Oil : Suspended particles, Deposits, Mucilages, Lees ? Is it normal to find deposits in Moringa oil ? Yes !
Whether it's a wisp of white matter hanging in suspension like an uninvited cloud or a little layer of sediment sliding around the bottom of the bottle, finding a deposit of particulate in your moringa oil can seem like an unwelcome discovery. Is it a sign of impurity? Has the oil degraded?
Not in the least! On the contrary, such deposits point to a high-quality, non-industrial extraction process that has preserved all the most important compounds in the moringa seed.
Raw, high-quality moringa oils are rich, thick, colorful, fragrant and have natural pulp residues. These residues are made up of tannic materials and integuments—in other words, what remains of the seed's fibrous structures and natural coverings. They testify to the fact that the oil is raw, whole and complex.
Industrial oils, on the other hand, undergo extensive refining. This turns the oil into a standardized product in terms of color, smell, flavor, and composition—a pale shadow of what moringa oil can and should be. In the process, the free fatty acids of the oil, which are essential to its healing powers, are typically neutralized by the use of corrosive chemicals (such as sodium hypochlorite), and further destroyed through deodorization and sterilization.
To optimize yield, industrial oil often undergoes various treatments with chemical solvents such as acetone, alcohols or even benzene & hexane (hydrocarbons); this mixture is then separated to recover the oil. In addition to being environmentally unfriendly, these methods leave behind residues of the solvents which end up on our skin and in our bodies.
So, rejoice! Clouds in your moringa oil mean you’re getting all of the good stuff and none of the bad.
WHY ARE THERE CHANGES IN APPEARANCE IN MY MORINGA OIL WHEN TEMPERATURE DROPS ?
Changes in appearance due to small temperature changes do not alter the properties of the oil.
What may degrade it is high temperature (above 50°C or 122°F) or oxidation (due to free radicals in the air). Oxidation is accelerated by exposure to light and heat.
When you put your oil in the fridge, it does not spoil it (on the contrary!), but it can have an impact on the structure of the fatty acids of the oil, which will then be organized differently and crystallize. Hence the small whitish clusters, filaments and strange clouds you may find in your oil.
-> At temperatures below 25°C (80° F), the fatty acids in the oil begin to solidify. As the temperature drops further, the oil ceases to be homogeneous and translucent and can become cloudy. If temperatures continue to drop, clumps of whitish and waxy particles will appear in the oil. These are combinations of integuments, waxes, gums and phospholipids that are naturally present, and they amplify the phenomenon of crystallization. Their presence is the proof of a good extraction method—precisely what we want to see!
As soon as you get your oil back to room temperature—running the bottle under warm water if you are in a hurry—it will recover its original homogeneity.