Edible tea oil

Edible tea oil

　　The tea-oil tree, also known as camellia oleifera or wood olive, is an evergreen shrub or small tree that blooms white flowers in autumn. It is a unique oil-producing plant species in China, with seeds containing 20% to 35% oil. The extracted oil is used for both culinary and industrial purposes. It is mainly grown in the hilly regions of China. Southern Jiangxi, the largest settlement area of the Hakka people, has extensive tea-oil tree cultivation with a long history.

　　Tea oil is a specialty and competitive product of southern Jiangxi, as well as a traditional and important commodity in the region, sold to Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other areas. Tea oil is used to prepare a variety of Hakka delicacies, such as stir-fried fish, fish cake stew, fish balls, lychee fish rolls, stewed pork skin, and Ningdu lamp cake. It is also an excellent raw material for making high-end food products, cosmetics, margarine, as well as soap, vaseline, lubricants, and rust preventive oils. Tea oil is clear in color and fragrant in taste, with over 94% unsaturated fatty acids and no erucic acid. Regular consumption of tea oil is particularly effective in preventing hypertension, coronary heart disease, and high cholesterol, hence the saying that tea oil "nourishes the mouth without fattening the belly." It is hailed as a "health oil" and a "premium nutritious oil." The tea-oil tree is highly versatile—the shells of its seeds can be used to produce theophylline, tannin extract, furfural, activated carbon, potassium carbonate, and sorbitol. The leftover cakes from oil extraction have fertilizing, insecticidal, and cleaning effects, and can also be used as raw materials for pesticides. The tea-oil blossoms provide abundant nectar, yielding 15 to 20 kilograms of honey per mu. The wood of the tea-oil tree trunk is hard and can be used to make tools.