The Ingredient Library
Babassu
Attalea speciosa
Babassu oil is pressed from the kernels of a wild Brazilian palm; the rock-hard nuts are still split by hand by the women coconut breakers of Maranhão, using an axe and a wooden club.
Get to know Babassu
- Source
- Palm nut kernel
- Origin
- Maranhão, Brazil
- Extraction
- Cold-pressed
- Texture
- Light, dry, melts on skin
What it is
Babassu is a botanical carrier oil used in hair and skin care.
Why it belongs in your routine
Light, dry-feeling kernel oil from wild babassu palms of northeast Brazil.
How to use
Warm a few drops between your palms and smooth over hair or skin. Patch test before use.
Where Babassu comes from
The babassu palm, Attalea speciosa, grows in huge natural stands in the transition zone between the Amazon and the dry Cerrado of northeast Brazil, especially in Maranhão, Piauí and Tocantins. It reaches 10 to 20 metres and carries long arching fronds. Each palm produces heavy bunches of brown, oval fruit, and inside each fruit's woody shell sit three to eight slender white kernels.
Babassu oil is clear to pale yellow with a faint nutty scent. Like coconut oil it is high in lauric and myristic acid, which makes it firm in cool rooms and liquid just above about 24 °C. On the skin it melts quickly and feels light and dry rather than greasy. Babassu oil is used in soap making, lip balms, body butters, conditioners and hair oils.
Sourcing & extraction
How Babassu is sourced and extracted
Why it is rare
Babassu nuts are so hard that no machine has fully replaced hand cracking in most areas. Kernels make up less than a tenth of each fruit's weight, so collecting enough for oil takes a great deal of physical work.
How it is gathered
Babassu is gathered mainly by the quebradeiras de coco babaçu, the women coconut breakers of rural Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. They collect fallen fruit from wild palm groves, mostly in the second half of the year. Sitting with an axe blade held between their knees, they split each nut with a wooden club to free the kernels. The kernels are sold to local cooperatives or mills for pressing, and the shells are often burned for charcoal.
How it is made
Cold-pressed from the kernel
- Fallen babassu fruit is gathered and split by hand with an axe and club to release the white kernels.
- Kernels are dried in the sun or in dryers to lower their moisture and help them keep.
- The dried kernels are pressed in an expeller, releasing a clear oil that sets in cool conditions.
- The oil is settled and filtered to remove fine kernel particles before it is packed.
How to use Babassu
- Start with a few drops and warm them between your palms.
- Massage into clean skin, or work through the lengths of damp or dry hair.
- Use on its own, or add a few drops to your moisturizer or conditioner.
For external use only. Patch test on a small area before first use and stop if irritation occurs. If you are pregnant, nursing or have a medical condition, ask a healthcare professional before use.
From ingredient to routine
Products with Babassu
Find this ingredient in our collection.
Questions about Babassu
Where does Babassu come from?
Babassu is gathered mainly by the quebradeiras de coco babaçu, the women coconut breakers of rural Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. They collect fallen fruit from wild palm groves, mostly in the second half of the year. Sitting with an axe blade held between their knees, they split each nut with a wooden club to free the kernels. The kernels are sold to local cooperatives or mills for pressing, and the shells are often burned for charcoal.
How is Babassu extracted?
Cold-pressed from the kernel. Fallen babassu fruit is gathered and split by hand with an axe and club to release the white kernels. Kernels are dried in the sun or in dryers to lower their moisture and help them keep. The dried kernels are pressed in an expeller, releasing a clear oil that sets in cool conditions. The oil is settled and filtered to remove fine kernel particles before it is packed.
Why is Babassu considered rare?
Babassu nuts are so hard that no machine has fully replaced hand cracking in most areas. Kernels make up less than a tenth of each fruit's weight, so collecting enough for oil takes a great deal of physical work.
