Sacha inchi oil: Inca peanut

Sacha inchi oil is one of those "must-have" oils if you formulate "natural" products. It is not just because it has an exotic name (at least to us at the other side of the Atlantic) or an unforgettable yellow colour like no other plant oil or a very pleasant nutty scent like fresh nuts. It's because of its unique fatty acid profile and high content of tocopherols.This is why we chose it as our "oil of the month" for January 2019. This means, through the whole month of January, we have an attractive discount on this oil.

Read about our previous oils of the month if you have missed the blog posts:

Cucumber oil

Moringa oil

Rosehip oil

The plant:

Sacha inchi (Plukenetia Volubilis) is known as inca peanut or mountain peanut. The plant is native to Amazonian rainforest (Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia and venezuela). The plant grows to ca. 2 meter and the seeds grow about 5 months after planting. The botanical name is dedicated to the botanist "Leonard Plukenet".

The fruits are kind of encapsulated in a green star-like capsule. Fruit capsules contain four to seven lobes and the seeds inside are oval and brown. Raw seeds are inedible unless they are roasted (high content of alkaloids and saponins).

The oil

INCI: Plukenetia Volubilis seed oil

Saponification value:192-196
Iodine value:183-199

Oh my, it has an amazing yellow colour (well almost 90% of the plant oils are yellow but this one has a specific shade of yellow) and a scent like freshly shelled nuts. The scent is quite related to the quality of the oil. A fresh, cold processed oil with low peroxide content smells like fresh nuts but if the oil is old, or if the temperature is not controlled during pressing a fish-like smell is produced. 

The oil has a high iodine value and a high content of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-6 and omega-3). In fact sacha inchi oil is one of the most popular vergan sources for omega-3 fatty acids in food supplements.

Fatty acids:

Sacha inchi oil contains 21 different triglycerides with linolenic acid as the main component. It is one of the rare "liquid" oils with a relatively low content of oleic acid.

Unsaponifiables:

sacha inchi oil contains about 2000 ppm tocopherols, mainly gamma and delta tocopherol (this is why it has a relative good heat stability despite its high iodine value) and about 8 ppm carotenoids.

Applications:

Apart from its application as an edible oil to reduce the cholesterol content of the blood and to balance the omega-3 intake it is used in cosmetics as a source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Traditionally the oil is blended with the seeds powder and used as a beauty mask. The high tocopherol content of the native oil helps protecting the skin lipids against oxidation.

Use this oil in your high-quality skincare products for mature and compromised skin.

Heat sensivity:

High iodine value is balanced by the tocopherol content (if you work with native and unrefined oil) and sacha inchi oil is much more stable compared to borage, pomegranate or evening primrose oil. Still if you have the possibility to cold-process this oil we recommend that you avoid heating it .

BeHappy and have fun