Tomato seed oil

Tomato seed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of tomatoes.

The possibility of extracting oil from tomato seeds was studied in the United States in 1915. Seeds were obtained from a variety of locations and bred and pressed to produce oil. This was refined using an alkali and then clarified with fuller's earth. The resulting oil was pale yellow and considered suitable for dressing salads.^[1]

The seeds have been given renewed attention as there is pressure to utilise the waste products of tomato processing, in which seeds are the largest component. In Greece, over a million tons of tomatoes are processed each year and the resulting quantity of seeds might be used to produce up to 2000 tons of oil. The oil from Greek seeds has been extracted by using ether as a solvent. When analysed, it was found to contain a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid.^[2]