Extraction of oil from sea buckthorn berries

Baylis Farms (Baylis), located in Smithfalls, has successfully planted 3,000 to 4,000 sea buckthorn shrubs on 9 acres. Looking to be a certified organic raw material supplier of sea buckthorn oil, Baylis has reached out to Seneca’s School of Biological Science and Applied Chemistry to investigate and optimize their existing pulping process and develop a cost-effective process for extraction of oil from the berry juice. This valuable natural ingredient has strong market demand in the cosmetic industry; loaded with antioxidants, the oil from the berry is an appealing ingredient for anti-aging and anti- wrinkle products. The project will consist of two primary objectives, first to improve the pulping process to obtain a cost-effective, high throughput process and second to investigate alternative oil extraction processes. The method used for the execution of the project will be a combination of specific types of known and/or newly investigated technologies. The expected project deliverables are two new processes for Baylis Farms; these combined processes will support Baylis in converting their, primary harvesting business, to include distribution of the berry oil to raw material suppliers in the cosmetic industry as well as other distributors working with naturopathic product manufacturers.

Faculty Supervisor:

Barkev Keoshkerian

Student:

Partner:

Baylis Farms

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Seneca College

Program: