Avocado oil

Avocado oil has a high vitamin E content, which makes it very useful in skincare products.

In the world of gastronomy, avocado oil is a great alternative to olive oil, especially because it can withstand higher heat and is therefore more suitable for frying.

In this article you can read about the many properties and uses of avocado oil.

In addition, you can see a complete fatty acid profile of a regular avocado oil and compare it to a typical olive oil.

The properties of avocado oil

Although avocados are relatively high in vitamins C, E, K, B5, B6 and B9, most of these vitamins disappear during the production of avocado oil; typically only vitamin E remains. It's worth mentioning that you should always check the nutritional content on the label before buying an avocado oil; the vitamin content can vary widely – and some avocado oils contain no vitamins at all!

Nutritionally, avocado oil is very similar to olive oil in that the two oils have a very similar fatty acid profile. Both oils are also cholesterol-free and the composition of their fatty acids can help to lower the human body's levels of LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) and raise levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol).

The table below shows the fatty acid composition of avocado and olive oil. The values are given as a percentage (%):

NOTE: turn your phone horizontally to expand the chart

Fatty acids	Fatty acid type	Avocado oil	Olive oil
Myristic acid	Saturated	0,03-0,07	–
Palmitic acid	Monounsaturated	9-18	8,6-14
Palmitoleic acid	Monounsaturated	3-9	0,3-1,3
Stearic acid	Saturated	0,2-1	2,1-2,8
Oleic acid	Monounsaturated	56-74	75-82,6
Linoleic acid	Polyunsaturated omega-6	8-19	4,5-9
Alpha linolenic acid	Omega-3 polyunsaturated	0-2	0,5-0,8
Arachidonic acid	Polyunsaturated omega-6	0-1,05	0-0,6
9-Eicosenoic acid	Monounsaturated omega-9	0-0,1	0-1,4

The data in the table is based on extra virgin avocado oil and olive oil from Chile and New Zealand and is included solely to illustrate the general fatty acid content of avocado oils compared to olive oil. The fatty acids in individual avocado and olive oils vary depending on factors such as local growing conditions, individual harvest, refining, storage, etc.

Avocado oil's effect on skin and hair

Due to its vitamin E content, avocado oil may have a beneficial effect on human skin and hair – and many advocates use avocado oil exclusively for these properties. However, there are no scientific studies that have yet been able to prove these properties.

Although the effects of avocado oil on skin and hair have yet to be proven, it's ultimately your personal results that count. In other words, you might as well try it out; if you get better skin, shinier hair, etc. that's great – and if not, at least you've tried.

The lack of scientific documentation of the properties of avocado oil is illustrated very well by the fact that two of the most relevant studies on the effects of avocados and avocado oil on the skin were conducted on rats and not humans! The studies can be seen here:

• An Israeli study from 1991 points out that oil from the avocado pit can increase the formation of soluble collagen in the skin, which may be of cosmetic interest to humans. However, one of the problems with this study is that the avocado oil extracted for human consumption today comes from the flesh – not the avocado pit as in the study – so these properties cannot be attributed to regular avocado oil

• A Brazilian study from 2013 concluded that “avocado oil can promote the formation of collagen in the skin and reduce the number of inflammatory cells during wound healing, and should therefore be considered as a new option in wound care”. However, this is by no means scientific proof that avocado oil has the same properties in humans

As mentioned, both studies have so far only been conducted on rats and their results cannot be assumed to apply to humans.

Uses of avocado oil

Avocado oil is primarily used gastronomically and cosmetically:

Gastronomy

From a culinary perspective, avocado oil can be compared to olive oil, as the two oils can be used for many of the same purposes. They are also one of the few edible oils that are not pressed from seeds or kernels, but instead from the flesh of the fruit.

Avocado oil has the highest smoke point (the temperature at which the oil starts to smoke, making it rancid and unsuitable for frying) of all oils at 271°C (for comparison, virgin olive oil has a smoke point of around 200°C). However, the smoking points of avocado oils can vary and depend mainly on the quality of the refining of each oil (the finer the refining, the higher the smoking point) and the storage of the oil until the time of use. A virgin avocado oil does not have a significantly higher smoke point than a virgin olive oil.

Avocado oil should not be stored in the refrigerator.

Cosmetics

Avocado oil is mainly used in skincare products due to its fatty acid composition and relatively high vitamin E content. In addition, experience also shows that avocados and avocado oil are naturally moisturizing, which is also a desirable property in many cosmetic products.

Aromatherapy

Avocado oil is a base oil that is particularly suitable for blending with other base oils – such as:

Precautionary measures

Apart from the fact that avocado oil can rarely cause allergic reactions, there are no special precautions for the oil.