The History and Promise of Jojoba
By Gary Tremper
What is jojoba? It's a plant that can grow in semi-arid areas,
requires little water and maintenance and yields a crop of seeds that have many
uses. The seed-oil has been used in lubricants, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and
as a replacement for sperm oil in manufacturing of inks, varnishes, waxes,
detergents, resins and plastics. In this era of dwindling natural resources and
increased concern for the environment, maybe jojoba's time is now.
(AW)
About The Author
Gary Tremper is a retired educator and a full-time proponent and cultivator
of jojoba. For the past fifteen years, he has maintained a number of acres of
jojoba in cultivation and regularly harvests and processes the seeds (nuts). His
company, Jojoba Obispo, supplies oil for private and commercial uses and is a
resource for information on jojoba.
Jojoba
History
The credit for naming jojoba has been assigned to several individuals from
Hernan Cortez the despoiling conquistador of the Aztec culture to a Jesuit
priest Francisco Clavijera in Baja California. It is assumed that the native
cultures had been using the seeds for centuries as a food, the oil that was
taken from the seeds as a cosmetic and the oil on skin afflictions and wounds as
a medicine. The story goes that an unknown observer asked the Native Americans
the name of the oil they were rubbing on their bodies and hair and then wrote
the name "jojoba". And so it came to pass that a native plant of North America
began its exodus out of obscurity into the modern world of today.
Jojoba has been assigned the name Simmondsia chinensis by the botanical
world. The name however comes about by an error. Link, a botanist, traveled
around the world collecting seeds and plants to catalog and describe. By mistake
he got the seeds of the jojoba plant mixed up with seeds that he had collected
in China hence the chinensis. International rules of nomenclature state that a
plant once given a name is stuck with it. Jojoba did not occur in China
naturally.
The "oil" from the seeds is unusual in that it is not an oil but a pure
liquid ester! The difference between an oil and an ester is small and yet large
in terms of properties. Vegetable oils have several alcohol groups on the
molecule and some have forked molecules and will eventually oxidize and become
rancid. Jojoba has only one alcohol group and is a straight chain molecule;
therefore it is not subject to oxidizing and in fact is an anti-oxidant and will
never become rancid. However, the liquid ester does have the ability to self
polymerize in the presence of sunlight, so it is best to keep it in brown glass
bottles, in the dark, or in closed metal cans. Research is presently underway at
Jojoba Obispo to investigate the qualities and uses of polymerized jojoba
oil.
The liquid ester is chemically almost identical to spermaceti oil which is
also a pure ester found in the head of the Sperm whale. Jojoba is the ideal
substitute for the oil of the Sperm whale which until restrictions was used for
high temperature lubrication, cosmetics and as a lubricant for automatic
transmissions. Perhaps jojoba really can save the whales.
Jojoba "oil" is a natural mimic of the oil secreted by human skin so it may
be used to protect and lubricate skin and hair. It is soothing, stops
multitudinous skin problems and protects against premature aging and wrinkling
of the skin caused by exposure to ultra violet radiation.
The properties of and the myriad uses for jojoba were first announced to the
world in 1933 when it was examined by a paint company for use in paint mixtures.
This use was apparently unsuccessful but was a wake up call for the "Sleeping
Princess Jojoba" as she (the oil) was called by Howard Scott Gentry, a renown
Botanist of the Southwest.
"Princess Jojoba" first began to lift her eyelids in 1943 when duty called
and "Princess Jojoba" was drafted. Many natural resources of the U.S. in 1943
were dwindling and substitutes were sought which could be used in the war
effort. In this regard jojoba oil served the country well, filling in as
additives to motor oil, transmission oil and differential gear oil. The ability
of the oil to withstand high temperatures and carry away large amounts of heat
from gear systems was a definite plus for the U.S. fighting machine. Even
machine guns were lubricated with jojoba as it wouldn't gum up as petroleum
would.
The end of the war in 1945 was a signal for oil companies to begin
exploiting and developing their product; as a consequence, interest in jojoba
fell by the wayside. "The Sleeping Princess" had to close her eyes and repose a
little longer in her slumber.
In 1971 "The Sleeping Princess" opened her eyes and looked around once again
as grants from benevolent agencies enabled researchers to explore the potential
of jojoba as a possible substitute for or supplement to petroleum.
In the early 70's the First International Conference on jojoba was held in
Mexico. Following this, a Second International Conference was held at the
University of Arizona and attracted hundreds of individuals ranging from
researchers and entrepreneurs to farmers and scam artists. The researchers and
representatives of industry discussed subjects including uses of jojoba oil,
lubricity, pollen counts and watering requirements for seedlings. "The Sleeping
Princess" had awakened.
At that time the Office of Economic Opportunity was looking for a
agriculture-based business which they felt could raise the economic level of the
Apache tribe. Jojoba was the key to the project which was initiated by the
Economic Opportunity Commission at the San Carlos home of the Apache. However,
after an energetic start the project slowly faded away for reasons too lengthy
to describe here and the Apache Nation stopped farming jojoba.
The Third International Conference on jojoba held in Riverside, California
in September, 1978 and was attended by individuals from some 25 nations.
Information on the cultivation of jojoba along with technical information about
the plant and its oil were presented. There were also lively discussions on how
jojoba might save the whales from extinction, the potential products which might
be made by hydrogenated jojoba, and how large-acreage plantations could be
grown. At the meeting Howard Scott Gentry said that "the road to jojoba
development as a viable domesticated crop was a long and dusty one and when the
entrepreneur, Dr. Jojoba and the farmer reached the end there wouldn't be any
beer". In essence Gentry was saying that he couldn't see light at the end of the
tunnel for jojoba production.
There arose out of the early days of the 70's a bonified and documented
society called the JOJOBAS WITNESS. These were people whom Dr. Thomas Miwa
called dedicated and whom Dr. Demitrious Yermanos called pilgrims. The society
was created by Dr. Miwa and had 12 members. "The Sleeping Princess" was yawning
and stretching.
By the late 70's a few cosmetic companies were producing products containing
jojoba and it was appearing in shampoos, hair care products, shaving lotions,
skin softeners and lubricants. With the introduction of "KEY" oil companies into
the mix, jojoba was blended with petroleum products to increase the lubricity of
lubricating oils. Pure jojoba oil was also beginning to appear at country fairs,
swap meets and in some selected health food stores.
However, along with its increased use, there were rumors of adulterated, or
chemically extracted oil being misrepresented as pure jojoba oil to unsuspecting
buyers. Those rumors and another event which happened at the time forever
changed the dreams of many entrepreneurs of jojoba. That event revolved around a
certain (unnamed) food company which heard about jojoba and decided to corner
the market on it. The company sent representatives into the prime seed growing
area where jojoba oil producing companies bought their seed. The company then
systematically raised the price they would pay for seed above the price their
competitors were paying. The seed price war which ensued didn't result in the
company cornering the market as hoped, but it did succeed in driving the price
of seed up from $1.50 per pound to $20.00 per pound. This was reflected in an
immediate rise in the price that cosmetics companies had to pay for the oil from
$40.00 per gallon to $200.00 per gallon! The cosmetics companies responded by
immediately replacing the jojoba oil in their products with a much less
expensive chemical anti-oxidizer. The Princess looked suddenly tired and
considered taking another nap.
This drop in the demand for jojoba unfortunately coincided with the I.R.S.
removing the total tax deduction jojoba farming had enjoyed based on it being
classified as an experimental crop. The I.R.S's decision to remove the deduction
arose from their conclusion that jojoba was really a nut and since peanuts or
almonds didn't qualify for a deduction, neither should jojoba. In response, Dr.
Hal Purcell, then the president of the Jojoba Growers Association, got together
a group of jojoba advocates, went to Washington D.C. and convinced the I.R.S
that jojoba was not a nut and should be classified as an oil seed crop. The tax
write-off was re-initiated. This tax status remained in effect until Reagan era
tax reforms finally put an end to the deduction.
With an end to the deduction, domestic production of jojoba decreased as
non-farmers who grew jojoba primarily for the write off allowed their fields to
languish un-maintained. The Princess let out a little moan. On the positive
side, while some of the farmers let their projects dry up and blow away, others
continued in spite of the I.R.S. decision. By 1978 jojoba harvesting was in the
1000's of acres; and in fact today acreage in jojoba is significantly greater
than the original native stands occupied when the tax deduction was in place.
Jojoba Farming
Jojoba has the distinction of being the first native plant since corn to be
successfully domesticated. The methods used by jojoba farmers in the past have
been varied, as there were no real records of the performance of cultivated
plants in existence. Subsequent research, however, has led to a greater
understanding of the classic farming requirements for jojoba.
Native populations occur between 23 and 34 degrees north latitude but a rule
of thumb which I use is that jojoba will grow well wherever avocados do well and
the days of full sun are greatest. Temperatures are critical but only in the low
range. Temperatures in the high 20's will freeze the buds and new growth in
mature populations. In juvenile plantations (three years old and younger) a very
large number of plants will be killed; A very few may survive. In general the
older the plant the less it will be damaged on a permanent basis by low
temperatures. Jojoba handles heat very well.
Soil texture is important as jojoba grows best in sandy or decomposed
granite or rocky soils and slowest in heavy clay soils such as adobe. Even if
the fertility of the soil is marginal, jojoba is still able to produce well
without the use of fertilizers. However, jojoba plants kept in containers seem
to do better with some fertilization.
Irrigation systems are a must when establishing jojoba plantations whether
by planting seeds or seedlings. The plants seem to do well on their own after
two years of intensive watering in early winter and spring when the jojoba plant
maximally utilizes water for growth. This watering period is a plus for the
jojoba farmer as jojoba's water requirements will not conflict with the watering
requirements for traditional crops. Under ideal conditions of soil, water and
sun, the tap root will grow an inch a day; within two years the roots should
reach the level of the aquifer thus enabling sufficient growth for seed
production without supplemental watering.
In the wild, plants will produce a crop solely utilizing ground water and
are also able to do so when in plantations assuming an underlying aquifer is
available to the roots. If it is possible (and economically viable) watering
should be continued every winter and spring as this will keep layers of water
moving downward, thereby causing the root systems to develop at greater and
greater depths each year. In this case, if the aquifer should drop because of
over drafting, the plants will still have water each year for good seed
production.
Seedlings can be expected to flower after three years growth. The plants are
wind pollinated as pollen travels hundreds of feet in a breeze. There are no
known insect pollinators other then accidentals. The flowers form in the winter
and after pollination grow until they are mature seed in July. The seed skin
will dry, shrink and split, whence the slightest breeze will send hundreds of
the seeds to the soil below. Seed oil content may vary from 45% to 65%. The
properties of the oil are constant regardless of geographical origin of the
seed.
Rodents collect the seeds but like humans have no enzymes to digest them; so
they waste energy in eating them. The largest native plants I have observed are
in areas around 1500' elevation, with rocky sandy soil, with 15 to 18 inches of
rain a year and where abundant rain water drains into low lying local
depressions where the plants grow. I have observed the smallest native plants at
about 4500' elevation even where precipitation was the same as precipitation in
the large-plant areas. Jojoba tolerates salinity very well whether in the
substrate (soil) or in the water. It has been observed doing well in
brackish-water along the coast of California. It is grown successfully in Israel
and is irrigated with water from the Dead Sea.
In order to maximize production, it would seem advantageous to plant rooted
cuttings from sexed plants which are known high producers or known to have seeds
with high oil content. Rooting the cuttings takes a little bit of technical know
how but it would be worthwhile to have a plantation with 90% to 95% female
plants, leaving the 5% or 10% males to produce adequate pollen for all the
female flowers.
The Promise
The jojoba industry is alive and well but is still struggling.
Many fields of jojoba have been planted. Some have met an end due to economic
reasons. Some are thriving and producing large quantities of seed which is
turned into oil and at the present time is being sold in Europe, Asia,
Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, North and South America and points between.
It has been a long and dusty road so far, the end of the road is not yet in
sight, but perhaps when the industry has a good hold of the problems
associated with jojoba's development and marketing, there may just be a beer
or two at the end.
© 1996 Gary Tremper
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Gary at work in his jojoba farm
Gary can be reached through his company, Jojoba Obispo, at the address below
or you can email him c/o Armchair World at
comments@armchair.com and
we'll forward your emails to him:
Jojoba Obispo
P.O. Box 1761
San Luis
Obispo, CA 93406