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For many decades, prickly pears in Morocco have been described as the fruit of the poor: rural dwellers harvested them in their fenced gardens, and urban residents bought them for a few dirhams a kilogram.
A few years after the arrival of the third millennium, the perception of this summer fruit, whose remains were used as fodder for cattle, changed when he revealed the secret of the “elixir of youth” hidden in its seeds.
Research in the field of cosmetic medicine revealed that the oils extracted from the seeds of prickly pear, or “Indian” in Moroccan colloquial, contain a very high proportion of anti-aging vitamin “E”, and other anti-oxidation vitamins.
This oil is one of the most expensive in the world, with a price of a thousand dollars a liter.
This revolution caused by aloe vera oil in the world of cosmetics has made international companies point the compass towards Morocco, due to the degree it holds, since it is considered one of the largest producers and exporters of this fruit in the Mediterranean and north of Africa. The Kingdom has 200,000 hectares of aloe vera and exports more than one million tons of prickly pears annually.
Green Gold Oil Extraction
The name Morocco in the memory of the cosmetic industry has been associated with the rare argan oil, which has a notable international demand, and this experience has been repeated in one way or another, with aloe vera oil.
Zahra Boudebaiz, director of the Aknari cooperative in the Sidi Ifni region, which produces the best types of prickly pears in Morocco, says that the cooperative, which was established in 2001 with the aim of producing argan oil and cosmetics, was able in 2007 to extract the first liter of oil from the prickly pear seeds.
The move came at the request of a European company.
In a statement to Sky News Arabia, Zahra explains that “producing a liter of aloe vera oil requires around a ton of fruit, and the preparation process goes through several stages, starting with the harvest, cleaning the thorns, extracting the seeds and then drying them, before squeezing them in a special machine “. This process requires the cooperation of 10 workers.
Zahra reveals that the association was able, in a matter of years, to obtain applications from various Arab, European and American companies, and was able to obtain quality certificates from international institutions.
In his interview with the site, he affirms that once the spinning process is finished, the waste is transformed into soap and with it cosmetic products are also made that are marketed in the local market.
The president of the Aknari association states that the women of the association have achieved financial independence thanks to the income from the aloe vera oil industry.
How did the aloe vera oil industry develop in Morocco?
Local Moroccan associations sell crude to importing companies at prices ranging from $ 250 to $ 350 per liter of oil, while these companies resell it internationally, sometimes up to $ 1,000 per liter.
Despite this great disparity, the industry associated with “green gold” opened a new horizon for local development in Morocco.
And the seizure of aloe vera oil went from 0.002 tonnes in 2008 to almost 5 tonnes in recent years.
The number of actors producing this oil is estimated at more than 30 industrial companies and local associations registered in the data of the Moroccan Export Monitoring Corporation (Morocco Foodex).
Nabil Chawki, Director of Productive Chain Development at the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed that the volume of exports has developed in the last decade, coinciding with the launch of the Green Morocco Plan, which aims to promote the agricultural sector and put into value the local product.
The official said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia” that global demand for aloe vera oil manufactured in Morocco is increasing dramatically, indicating that the export map is diversified and includes several countries, including the United States of America, Japan, France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And Poland.
The threat of the cochineal insect
Efforts to expand the cactus cultivation area face a challenge that has been imposed since 2014, the date of the appearance of the cochineal insect that attacks only this plant, and causes great losses in production, since it feeds on the plant cactus by absorbing its fluids, leading to its desiccation and death in case of severe infection.
The cochineal insect affected production in the suburbs of Casablanca, during the last years, since it completely destroyed the crops, in some areas.
Professionals confirm that pesticides used to save crops are dangerous for the aloe vera oil industry. As importing companies emphasize, the need for the oil to be free of chemical residues.
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