Vegetable Oils and Fats 



373 



decantation. The fine sediment diffused through the oil falls to the bottom and the pure 

 oil is drawn off from the top. It is still found necessary to filter the oil, and remove all traces 

 of water before the oil is ready for consumption. Pure olive oil will keep for a long time, 

 but when it is exposed to the air, if any water is present, fungi quickly develop and the oil turns 

 rancid. The finest oil has a golden colour, tastes and smells slightly of the fruit, and is clear 

 and limpid. Oil of a second quality is also designated " table oil." The oil subsequently 

 obtained, known as "ordinary" or "common" oil, is thicker than the better quality oils, and 

 has a yellowish or greenish tinge. Inferior grades are suitable for lubrication and for the 

 manufacture of soap. The finest grades are supplied from the South of France and Italy. 

 Spanish, Algerian, and Tunisian oils are of inferior quality. 



Earth or Ground Nut Oil. The leguminous plant {Arachis hypogaea), producing the 

 fruit known by the names of earth nut, ground nut, monkey nut, and pindar, receives its name 

 from the peculiar habit of ripening its fruit in the ground. There are two distinct types of the 

 plant, the one with trailing stems that produces nuts from the flowers along the runners as well 

 as near the root-stock, of which trie Mauritius is a common example. The other type of plant 

 is more erect and the nuts arise almost entirely from the base. The varieties from Brazil, 

 Pondicherry, West Africa, and Madagascar come under this type. 



The fruits consist of nar- 

 row straw-coloured, wrinkled 

 pods. The seeds are covered 

 with a thin white, reddish or 

 purple skin ; they have a 

 slightly sweet nutty flavour 

 and contain as much as 

 thirty to fifty per cent, of 

 oil. 



The cultivation of ground 

 nuts is at present fairly 

 world-wide. In South 

 America they are grown in 

 the Argentine, Brazil, and 

 Costa Rica ; they are exten- 

 sively cultivated in the 

 United States and eaten 

 when parched. On the West 

 Coast of Africa the crop is 

 very important in Gambia 

 and Senegal, and on the East 

 Coast nuts are exported from 

 Madagascar, Mozambique, 

 and German East Africa. 

 Pondicherry was formerly 

 the centre of the Indian 

 trade, but now the ship- 

 ments from Madras are on a 

 larger scale. 



In Europe the expression 

 of oil follows the usual course. 

 The nuts, after being shelled, 



are Cleaned by brushing and By permission of Messrs. Greenwood & Batley, Ltd. 



broken between rollers; they self-contained belt-driven edge stones 



