"The Step-by-Step Guide to Making Avocado Oil: From Fruit to Bottle"

The process for recovering oil from ripe avocados is a mechanical extraction, similar to olive oil extraction, with the additional step of removing the skin and stone (seed). After this, the flesh is ground to a paste and then malaxed for 40-60 minutes at 45-50°C. This is a higher malaxing temperature than used for olive oil extraction, but it is still considered to be cold-pressed extraction for avocado oil. The slightly higher temperature aids the extraction of the oil from the oil-containing cells and does not affect the quality of the oil.

The oil and water phases are separated from the pulp using a high-speed decanting centrifuge, and then the oil is separated from the water in final polishing centrifuges. The pulp from the decanting centrifuge and waste skin/seeds are returned to orchards for soil conditioning and mulch, or used as animal feed.

Avocado oil, if extracted from sound fruit (no rots, physiological disorders, or damage), will result in oil with a very low percentage of free fatty acids (%FFA) (<0.5% as oleic acid). Also, the peroxide values (PV) can be very low (<2 meq/kg). Recommended standards for extra virgin avocado oil have proposed a maximum PV of 4 meq/kg.

In sound, ripened fruit, the level of lipolysis that occurs is low, resulting in low %FFA. The fruit does not need to be processed immediately after ripening, but long delays should be avoided. Generally a higher %FFA is due to poor-quality fruit, delays in processing ripened fruit, or poor manufacturing practices.