rose hip seed Rose Hip Fruit Oil

Native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia, Rosa canina (Rose Hips) grows wild in clusters on slopes, valleys, riverbeds and sparse forests, favoring forest edges, shrublands, clearings, and along roadsides and fences, from sea level up to about 1700 m.

In several countries the plant is considered a weed. In South America, Rose Hips, which was brought to the continent by Europeans, grows in the cold, rainy, and lush mountain valleys of the southern Andes in Chile, where it is the national plant. It is known by Chileans as "Rosa Mosqueta," and by scientists as Rosa rubiginosa affinis.

The plant is a shrub that can exceed 2 m in height with thin, flexible stems that are curved and covered with purplish spines. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, compound 5 to 9 leaflets that are polished with serrated edges. The flowers show five free petals, pink or white-pink with a musky smell, in bushy and terminal panicles. The stamens are bright yellow. Flowering occurs only once per season. Its fruit is an ovoid cinorrodón that is 1 to 3 cm long and colored red or orange with traces of spiny sepals at its end.

The first recorded use of Rose Hips fruits was in ancient Babylon dating back to the second millennium BC. Rose Hips was also used in ancient Rome and Egypt for medicinal purposes. Based on long-standing use, the European Medicines Agency permitted the use of whole dried petals of R. gallica, R. damascena, and R. centifolia in Europe as a traditional herbal medicinal product for mild inflammation of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa and for relief of minor skin inflammation.

Every part of the plant is used: the bark, the leaves, the flowers, the fruit, and the seeds.

Especially valuable is the fruit of rose hips. It is used in fresh and dried form to makes jam, juices, syrups, teas, and vitamin drinks. Due to its high antioxidant and Vitamin C content, as well as its antibacterial and Phytoncides properties, Rose Hips Oil is widely used in naturopathic medicine and pharmacology.

The oil is extracted from both the seeds and the whole fruit. Food grade Rose Hips Oil is extracted from dried fruit with the seeds. It yields a dense viscous oil, with a bright red color, retaining the phytonutrients from both the pulp and the seeds.

Rose Hips Oil has an extraordinarily high amount of linoleic acid (about 45% of composition) and linolenic acid (about 30%), polyunsaturated essential fatty acids that are are directly related to the synthesis of collagen and elastin. Those substances give firmness and elasticity to the skin and regulate skin's natural defenses, cell growth, and the biological processes involved in tissue regeneration.

Rose Hip Seed Oil also contains oleic acid and smaller amounts of Palmitic, Stearic, Arachidonic acid, and Trans-retinoic acid (tretinoin), which are responsible for accelerating regeneration of the epidermopoiesis and tissue. They help improve the appearance of scars, reduce stretch marks, prevent signs of premature skin aging, and lighten hyper-pigmentation and sun damaged skin.

Rose hips fruit pulp contains: 2.6 mg Vitamin A (Beta Carotene); .05 mg Vitamin B1 (thiamine); .13 mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin); .6 mg Niacin (vitamin B3 or vitamin PP); 650 mg Vitamin C (ascorbic acid); 1.7 mg Vitamin E (tocopherol); 28 mg Calcium; 8 mg Magnesium; 5 mg Natrium; 8 mg Phosphorus; 1.3 mg Iron; and 1.1 mg Zinc.

Rose Hips Oil reinvigorates fibroblasts - skin cells that produce collagen and elastin - which are responsible for the firmness and elasticity of the skin and connective tissue. It also has anti-inflammatory properties and nourishes and moisturizes the skin.

Our Rose Hips Oil comes from organic/wild crops that comply with the European Organic Soil Association's (EOSA) rigorous organic standards. Our Rose Hips Oil is extracted/processed in a certified organic food facility from the whole fruit, retaining the therapeutic properties of both the fruit pulp and the seeds.