ORGANIC Evening Primrose Oil

Arrived as a stowaway

The Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) is an inconspicuous plant that often grows on roadsides, embankments, riverbanks, rubble slopes and along railway lines. It probably came to Europe as a stowaway on merchant ships from America. These ships needed ballast for the long journey across the Atlantic, so they were weighted down with gravel or soil. When they arrived in Europe, the ballast was dumped in the harbours - along with the evening primrose seeds. The evening primrose owes its name to the fact that it only opens its flowers in the evening to attract moths for pollination.

The evening primrose flowers from June to October, grows up to one metre tall and has an angular stem. It has basal leaves and smaller stem leaves. The yellow flowers form a racemose inflorescence. Each flower blooms for only one day and is then replaced by a new one. This shows how quickly the evening primrose develops and how vigorous the plant is. The fruits of the evening primrose are elongated. The roundish seeds of the plant are inside the fruit, which is about three centimetres long. At Ölmühle Solling, the precious evening primrose oil is cold-pressed fresh from the seeds of organically grown evening primrose plants.

An oil with girl power

Evening primrose oil is one of Ölmühle Solling's vital oils. The human metabolism needs fat to function optimally. And not just any fat: natural, unadulterated, organic edible oils are ideal for health-conscious connoisseurs. They provide everything we need for vitality and well-being.

Natural, cold-pressed evening primrose oil is valuable for external and internal use and is one of the few vegetable oils to contain a combination of essential linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid (approx. 10g per 100g) (in addition to evening primrose oil, borage seed oil and hemp oil, for example). The human body cannot produce essential fatty acids. They must therefore be obtained from food. Linoleic acid, also known as an omega-6 fatty acid, is needed by the body for the formation of new skin cells. Evening primrose oil has therefore been a popular skin care oil for many years. It is used to treat extremely dry and sensitive skin and can be applied to the skin on its own or mixed into creams. It protects and conditions sensitive areas of the skin and regulates the skin's moisture balance. It is particularly recommended for the face and décolleté.

It has only been known as an edible oil in Germany since the First World War. During the war, when food was scarce and fats for human consumption were in short supply, people experimented with a wide variety of seeds, nuts and kernels: beechnuts, grape seeds and even the seeds of wild herbs - and this is how this special oil, which is particularly appreciated by women as part of a conscious and balanced diet, was discovered. Evening primrose oil has a characteristic bitter taste.

As an edible oil, evening primrose oil can be enjoyed pure by the spoonful or stirred into salad dressings, green smoothies, dips, etc. It is recommended that the oil is not heated above 90°C as this will destroy the valuable components. The oil should always be stored in a cool, dry place and used quickly after opening. The UV-protected bottles from Ölmühle Solling protect the valuable fatty acids in the evening primrose oil from the sun's rays.

Health claims authorised under Regulation (EU) 432/2012 Linoleic acid helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels. A daily intake of 10g of linoleic acid, equivalent to 14g (2 tablespoons of 7g each) of evening primrose oil, will have a beneficial effect. A varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle should be maintained.

Evening primrose oil, with its savoury taste, can be enjoyed straight from the spoon as part of a balanced diet and is particularly popular with women. It has little effect on taste in green smoothies and vegetable juices. Due to its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, it should not be heated above 90°C.

One of the traditional uses of evening primrose oil is as an external treatment for extremely dry, flaky and sensitive skin. Tip: As the incorporation of gamma-linolenic acid into skin cells is slow, it sometimes takes a little patience for the benefits of the oil to become noticeable.