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Phulwara oil is extracted from seeds of Phulwara tree (Diploknema butyracea; family Sapotaceae). Phulwara Trees are also known locally as Chiuri Trees, Kaeleb Trees, or Butter Nut Trees. Refined Phulwara Oil is marketed as Phulwara Ghee.
The Phulwara Tree is a tree native to Nepal and adjoining areas of India. It grows in the sub-Himalayan tract between 300 and 1500 meters above sea level.
The tree also grows in the Andaman Islands.
The Phulwara is a medium-size deciduous tree with a straight trunk. It typically attains a height of 15 to 22 meters and a girth of 1.5 to 1.8 meters. In the Andaman Islands it can reach a height of 21 to 36 meters and a girth of 1.5 to 2.4 meters. In the hills of Kumaun, the tree attains a girth of 3 meters. The bark is dark grey or brown. [1] The tree typically begins to yield fruits after five to nine years, reaching full potential in about fifteen years. It can yield fruits for fifty to sixty years. [2]
The leaves form clusters at the end of branches that may be pink or white in colour. Normally, they are elliptically shaped, and are 20 to 35 mm long by 9 to 18 cm width.
The flowers, which are 2.0 to 2.5 cm in diameter, are white or pale yellow in colour and have a sweet fragrance.
The fruit is an oval shaped berry, 2.0 to 4.5 cm in diameter. The fruit has a bright shiny green or blackish skin. The pericarp is thick and soft. The fruit ripens during the months of May and August. The fruit is sweet and edible, containing 8.5% sugars & 5.6% crude fibre.
The seed constitutes twenty percent of the fruit. [2] Typically three seeds are present in a single fruit. The seeds are black and sparkling, 1.5 to 2.0 cm in length, with an almond shaped white kernel containing saponins. The seed coat varies from thin to thick and woody to crusty. The seeds contain 42-47% oil and the kernel contains 60-66% oil. 100 seeds weigh approximately 78 grams. The average annual fruit yield per tree is about 100 to 250 kilograms (220 to 550 lb).
Ripened Phulwara fruits are collected by hand or by beating the plant with long bamboo sticks. The harvested fruits are dried in shade for eight to twelve days. Seeds can be separated from fruits either manually or mechanically. If the quantity of fruits is relatively small, the fruits are crushed manually and the seeds separated. For larger quantities, a roller machine is used for seed extraction. The machine sequences the fruit through trays, collecting fresh fruit at one end and the seeds at the lower end.
Oil is extracted from the kernel of Phulwara seeds. The outer shell of seeds is removed by adopting traditional or mechanical methods. In the traditional method, the seeds are boiled in water and softened seeds are placed on the floor and pressed until the kernels come out. In the mechanical system, the shell of the seed is removed by a decorticator machine.
After cleaning and drying, the seeds are pounded into a fine powder using a traditional pounder called Dhiki. The powder is steamed on a perforated plate over a boiling pan. Oil is then extracted using a traditional oil expeller known locally as Chepuwa. [3]
The oil has a bitter taste due to impurities such as saponins, which accompany the extracted fat. Post-extraction filtration or purification is necessary for the ghee to become edible.
Table-Physical characters of oil [4]
| character | range |
| Specific gravity, at 30 °C | 0.856-862 |
| Refractive index.at 40° | 1.4552-1.4650 |
| Iodine value | 90-101 |
| Melting point | 31-51 °C |
| R.M.value | 0.4-4.3 |
| Titer value | 48-52 °C |
Composition of fatty acids
Phulwara oil contains 56.6% palmitic acid and 3.6% stearic acid, both of which are saturated fatty acids. It also contains 36.0% oleic acid along with 3.8% linoleic acid, both of which are unsaturated fatty acids. Oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid and has one double bond at the 9th carbon of its hydrocarbon chain. Linoleic acid has two double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain of the acid.
Table-physical and chemical characters of fat [4]
| Fatty acid | Percentage |
| Palmitic acid(C16:0) | 56.6 |
| Stearic acid(C18:0) | 3.6 |
| Oleic acid(C18:1) | 36.0 |
| Linoleic acid(C18:2) | 3.8 |
Phulwara ghee is the main source of edible oil for more than one hundred thousand people. The Ghee is used to cook vegetables and roti (Nepali bread).
Chiuri butter is used in confectionery, pharmaceutical, vegetable ghee production, candle manufacturing and soap making. It has been found to be effective for rheumatism. It is also used as an additive in animal ghee. [3]
A triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates, as well as vegetable fat. They are also present in the blood to enable the bidirectional transference of adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver, and are a major component of human skin oils.
The sunflower seed is the fruit of the sunflower. There are three types of commonly used sunflower seeds: linoleic, high oleic, and sunflower oil seeds. Each variety has its own unique levels of monounsaturated, saturated, and polyunsaturated fats. The information in this article refers mainly to the linoleic variety.
Vitellaria paradoxa, commonly known as shea tree, shi tree, or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.
Attalea maripa, commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up 35 m (115 ft) tall and can have leaves or fronds 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An edible oil can be extracted from the pulp of the fruit and from the kernel of the seed.
A pumpkin seed, also known in North America as a pepita, is the edible seed of a pumpkin or certain other cultivars of squash. The seeds are typically flat and asymmetrically oval, have a white outer husk, and are light green in color after the husk is removed. Some cultivars are huskless, and are grown only for their edible seed. The seeds are nutrient- and calorie-rich, with especially high content of fat, protein, dietary fiber, and numerous micronutrients. Pumpkin seed can refer either to the hulled kernel or unhulled whole seed, and most commonly refers to the roasted end product used as a snack.
Canarium ovatum, the pili, is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and is believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.
Macadamia oil is the non-volatile oil collected from the nuts of the macadamia, a native Australian plant. It is used in food as a frying or salad oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient or fragrance fixative.
Apricot oil or apricot kernel oil is pressed from the kernels of the Prunus armeniaca (apricot). Apricot kernels have an oil content of 40-50%. The oil is similar to almond oil and peach oil, both of which are also extracted from the kernels of the respective fruit.
Candlenut oil or kukui nut oil is extracted from the nut of Aleurites moluccanus, the candlenut or kuku'i.
Astrocaryum murumuru is a palm native to Amazon Rainforest vegetation in Brazil, which bears edible fruits. Murumuru butter, extracted from the seeds of the plant, may be used as a moisturizer.
Dacryodes edulis is a fruit tree native to Africa, sometimes called safou (Cameroon), atanga, ube (Nigeria), African pear, bush pear, African plum, nsafu, bush butter tree, or butterfruit.
Marula oil is extracted from the kernels (nuts) of the fruits of the Marula trees, from the family Anacardiaceae. There are two types of marula oil, the oil extracted from the seeds and the oil extracted from the nut's hard shell. Marula oil is traditionally used in cosmetics, in food as a cooking oil, and as a meat preservative and to treat leather.
Virola surinamensis, known commonly as baboonwood, ucuuba, ucuhuba and chalviande, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myristicaceae. It is found in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It has also been naturalized in the Caribbean. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. Although the species is listed as threatened due to habitat loss by the IUCN, it is a common tree species found throughout Central and South America.
Cucumeropsis mannii is a species of melon native to tropical Africa west of the East African Rift, where it is grown for food and as a source of oil.
Hydnocarpus wightianus or chaulmoogra is a tree in the Achariaceae family. Hydnocarpus wightiana seed oil has been widely used in Indian medicine and Chinese traditional medicine for the treatment of leprosy. It entered early Western medicine in the nineteenth century before the era of sulfonamides and other antibiotics for the treatment of several skin diseases and leprosy. The oil was prescribed for leprosy as a mixture suspended in gum or as an emulsion.
Diploknema butyracea, the Indian butter tree, is a multi purpose tree. Fat is extracted from the seeds and named chiuri ghee or phulwara butter. D. butyracea is useful for block planting and also to be grown in the ravines of hills. The latex yielding plant such as D. butyracea suits to different edapho climatic conditions and thus does not compete with the traditional crops. It is a large tree of family Sapotaceae, flowers during cold season and fruit ripens in June–July. It commonly occurs in the sub Himalayan tract between 300-1500m from sea level. The chiuri tree has been utilised for many uses by rural households in Nepal. Ghee is used in daily cooking, as fuel for lamps, and body lotion; the fruit is eaten fresh and use for alcohol distillation, oil-cakes are utilised as manure, and the tree itself is used as firewood, etc. It has significant cultural and livelihood associations with the Chepang community (Nepali:चेपांग) of Nepal and are given as dowry to daughters. This is not commercially farmed though.
Vateria indica oil is extracted from the seeds of the Vateria indica plant, a species in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The Vateria indica plant is indigenous to the Western Ghats, Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions of India. It thrives in the evergreen forests, surviving up to 800 meters above sea level. Oil from the seeds of the plant is extracted through a chemical refining process which makes the plant edible.
Nagkesar oil is extracted from seeds of the nagkesar tree. It belongs to the Calophyllaceae family. It is an East Indian evergreen tree and is often planted as an ornamental for its fragrant white flowers that yield a perfume. It is the source of hardwood used for railroad ties. It is Sri Lanka's national tree.
Shorea robusta seed oil is an edible oil extracted from the seeds of Shorea robusta. Shorea robusta is known as the Sal tree in India. Sal is indigenous to India and occurs in two main regions separated by the Gangetic Plain, namely the northern and central Indian regions. The plant belongs to the Dipterocarpaceae botanical family.
Kokum oil is a seed oil derived from the seeds of the kokum tree. Kokum oil is edible and can also be used for things other than cooking.
