Argan oil is prepared by cold pressing argan kernels collected from fully ripe fruit. Argan oil market price is particularly elevated. Consequently, efficient methods to ascertain its authenticity and quality are looked for by industrials as well as individual consumers. Argan oil element profile has already been shown to be sufficiently singular to be used to certify its authenticity. Quantification of eleven elements (Ca, P, Mg, Mn, K, Cu, Fe, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Sn) indicated a 55 to 60% increase in global metal content in argan oil prepared from fully ripe fruit, compared to argan oil prepared from unripe fruit. Individual variations are herein reported and our study demonstrates that argan oil element profile allows to certify the degree of maturity of the argan fruit at its harvest time and hence to guarantee the respect of one essential parameter necessary to get an argan oil of high nutritional quality.
Keywords: Cosmetic oil; Edible oil; ICP-AES; Maturity; Morocco.