Today, we use vegetable oils without thinking about the origin of the product. In ancient times, people used different types of plants and foods to extract oil. But what was the first vegetable oil to see the light of day?
The production of vegetables began thousands of years ago. People utilized anything they could find for a variety of cooking purposes. Later they learned to use the sun, a fire or an oven to heat up oily plants to collect the oils. China and Japan produced the first oil as early as 3000 b.c., soy bean oil! Southern Europeans started to produce olive oil by 2000 b.c.
The first efforts to mass production were made in China, Egypt, Greece and Rome. They would crush al kinds of vegetable matter with millstones, mortars or even their feet. Afterwards, they placed the materials in baskets. Sometimes people would even stack 50 of these baskets on top of each other. The production of vegetable oils today is possible thanks to various technological developments.
Want to know more about the rise of vegetable oils? Take a look at our blog for more information about your favorite oils and fats.