Avocado Oil

Avocado oil is one of the very few vegetable oils not pressed from seeds: it's extracted by pressing the pulp of the fruit (since the flesh itself is very rich in fats).

Avocado Oil Nutrition Facts

A bottle of avocado oil

Avocado Oil contains approximately 19% saturated fat, 66% oleic acid (an omega-9 fatty acid), 12% linoleic acid (an omega-6 essential fatty acid), and less than 5% alpha linolenic acid (an omega-3 essential fatty acid).

100 grams (approx 3 oz) of avocado oil contain: 884 kcal

In percentage, most of this oil consists of monounsaturated fats (around 70%) with a high content in vitamin E, which makes it an excellent supplement for this liposoluble antioxidant. Nutritionally, it compares well with olive oil, sharing a very similar profile.

This oil is definitely edible, and can be used either as cooking oil or sprinkled directly on salads. Other uses include lubrication for machinery and cosmetic uses, where it is usually claimed to have important moisturizing and regenerative properties.

Industrially, it is often extracted by olive growers, since avocados produce fruit year-round, while olive trees only yield fruits once a year: machinery during the rest of the year can be conveniently used to process avocado oil.

Avocado oil is unusual in its "smoke point" (the temperature at which oil starts becoming gas), since it's very high and clocks in at 491°F (255°C), higher than any natural oil.

Refined Oil or Cold Pressed

Avocado oils with a label reading "Refined Avocado Oil" are highly processed industrially, with machinery that separates all the different fatty acids with maximum precision: this makes the processed oils very cheap, and raises their smoke point considerably.

The cons of refined oil are a much milder flavor due to reductions in non-fat substances such as flavonoids. Refined oil has a taste very similar to canola oil.

Cold pressed avocado oil is generally extracted by small businesses, manually, and retains all the flavors and natural qualities of avocado fruits, but it has a lower smoke point and is therefore less suitable for high-temperature cooking, such as stir-frying.