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Black Seed Oil: Single Press or Double Press?
When you buy black seed oil, one thing you might notice is that brands or companies will advertise the oil as being either one-time pressed. It’s not as self-explanatory as it sounds, and the difference between one-time press and double press is actually important.
The pressing process is where the oil is extracted from the Nigella Sativa seeds. Different companies have different equipment and different ideas about the way to extract the oil. But one thing that’s worth mentioning is that not all companies are dedicated to quality. Larger companies want to get as much oil as possible from the seeds because they have large markets to supply and will usually prioritize volume over quality.
Let’s look at some specifics on how Black Seed Oil is extracted and what you should look for when buy it.
How is Black Seed Oil Extracted?
Before we get into the differences, you need to know how black cumin seeds are pressed for oil. Most Nigella Sativa Oil producers in the Middle East and North Africa who supply oil to the world market are using industrial-quality press machines. Industrial pressing machines are huge and bulky. The biggest problem of these machines is that they are not able to squeeze 100% of oil from the seeds. Unfortunately, such equipment is able to get only 75% of the oil from Nigella Sativa seeds. The reason is simple: the industrial equipment is produced for soft seed extraction such as sunflower or pumpkin. Nigella Sativa seeds are small but very strong, the press machine cannot get everything from the first press.
On the other side there are commercial presses that BioNatal LLC uses. These machines are smaller and working way slower, taking smaller seed batches. The spiral, or tube, is also smaller, which allows it to only press a single layer of seeds at a time so that a second press is impossible as long as there is no oil left in the seeds.
Single Press VS Double Press: What’s the Difference?
A lot of companies, particularly in the Middle East, will use industrial machines because they can press more seeds in less time, thus producing more oil. When the seeds are pressed, they end up looking like shiny, flat pieces of plastic. Because so many seeds are pressed at once, many of them still contain oil after the pressing process is finished. They exit the press still wet, and then the companies put them back into the press for a second extraction.
In a way, this makes sense. These are big companies who are looking to supply big markets and need to squeeze as much out of their product as possible to make up volume and reduce the price in the same time. The problem is that the quality diminishes during this second press and a dangerous burning materials like Benzo(a)pyrene appear in the oil in big amount.
In a single press process, the Nigella Sativa seeds are spread out in the press in an even layer for maximum extraction. They’re minimally processed in this way to produce a better, cleaner oil without creating burning materials.
Bottom Line: How Many Times Should Black Seeds be Pressed?
The general consensus among Black Seed Oil consumers is that one-time press is best. The only way to know for sure what kind of oil you’re getting is to know the type of machine the company is using to press the seeds in the first place. In addition, only Benzo(a)pyrene level analyses will tell you if the press was single or double. At BioNatal, we use only commercial presses to extract a high-quality oil and provide analyses of Benzo(a)pyrene that prove one-time press. Try it for yourself and experience a better taste, texture, and overall experience with Black Seed Oil.
