Tedre Farm in Estonia explores new extraction process for a precious waste output: raspberry seed oil
Tedre Farm, located in the Otepää Upland (Southern Estonia), grows raspberries and produces raspberry juice and other derivatives.
In 2017, in a collaboration with the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the farm started a project to study technologies for the extraction of oil from raspberry seeds, a by-product of raspberry juice production. Raspberry seed oil was previously known particularly for its medicinal properties, but it had not yet been produced in Estonia.
The oil, usually extracted through cold pressing, is very rich in vitamins E and A, which makes it a great antioxidant. It contains plenty of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which are beneficial for the skin. It has an anti-inflammatory effect and healing properties and slows down skin-aging.
The project has reached important findings about raspberry seeds and their use:
- Raspberry seeds contain valuable oil, which can be extracted through various processing technologies.
- In the project, the usual cold pressing method has been compared to the supercritical CO₂ extraction and further tests have been carried out to find the best technological and environmentally friendly option.