Neem buyers- Tips on how to locate quality neem products
Neem is great stuff. Ever been in the market for high quality neem products but did not know what to look for? Neem products are slowly becoming more widely available, but right now are mostly only found on the internet or in small beauty shops and other out of the way places. Because it is hard to find these products it is easy to grab the first thing you come across just because it has the word neem on the label. So here are some tips that will help you make an educated choice before purchasing the wrong stuff.
Know How The Oil Was Extracted From The Seeds There are several ways it can be done, but I will only be discussing a couple of methods used to extract the neem oil from the seeds of the neem tree. As you have probably figured out, not all extraction process produce the same quality oil. The extraction process that produces the best neem seed oil is called cold pressing. Cold pressing neem oil is the best, due to the fact that most of the active compounds remain intact. It is also the oldest way to extract the oil. It uses a mechanical device that squeezes the oil out of the seeds. Always make sure to buy only cold pressed neem oil where possible.
A second process uses superheated water and high pressure. Though this technique gets more oil from the seeds than using a mechanical press, a lot of the active compounds in the neem oil are made useless because of the exposure to high heat.
A third technique is one that most manufacturers use because it gets the most oil. The method is called solvent extraction, and in most cases hexane (also known as gasoline) is the chemical used. Though this process extracts just about all of the oil from the neem seeds, the solvents destroy nearly all of the active compounds in the neem. And along with this and the fact that the chemical being used is poisonous, it is best that you look for products that do not contain solvent extracted neem oil.
Avoid Additives Nearly all bath and cosmetic products today contain chemical compounds to “enhance” the products performance. However, some of these chemicals may potentially cause unwanted side effects. Two of the most common additives found in a lot of bath bath products are Lauryl Sulfates and Parabens. SLS’s are often used as foamers, because they are not very costly and work particularly well. Many inexpensive neem oil products have many of these additives as well. But, these chemicals have proven to cause allergic reactions in some people. The US Food and Drug Administration encourages manufacturers not to use them.
Parabens are often used for preserving, and though there has been no substantial proof that they are potentially dangerous, they are starting to be avoided by many. Some organizations feel they should be avoided in order to err on the side of safety.
Buy Only Products That Contain Certified Organic Ingredients For obvious reasons, organic ingredients are preferred over non-organic ingredients. These ingredients are all natural, and have not been exposed to man-made chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, plant growth regulators, pesticides or similar chemicals. Look for labels that list only organic ingredients. If a producer uses them, they will always state this selling point on the label.