Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
From the beginning of human history, people have
used oils from seeds and nuts. Most of the time
these oils are used as food, especially in cooking.
But sometimes they have other uses. For example,
oils are used in paint and in cleaning products like
soap.
Oil is separated from seeds by using pressure. A
machine called a press is often used. Sometimes it
is surprising to learn how much oil the seeds
contain. Sesame, cotton and sunflower seeds, for
example, all contain at least fifty percent oil.
Soybean is an important seed around the world, but
it is only twenty percent oil. So chemicals are
needed to release oil from soybeans.
The first step in pressing the oil from seeds is to
crush the seeds between two stones. The crushed
seeds are then put into a cloth bag and the bag is
hung up. Some of the oil will flow out of the bag
and can be collected.
But some oil will remain in the crushed seeds inside
the bag. The easiest way to get the rest of the oil
out is to place heavy rocks on the crushed material.
Another method is to place several cloth bags on top
of each other in a box. Then a long wooden stick is
used to slowly push a heavy cover down on the bags.
Great pressure is produced in this way. Much greater
pressure can be produced by using a machine, a
hydraulic jack. The greater the pressure, the more
oil will be produced.
Oil can also be collected with small, hand-operated
machines. Small presses are important in areas where
electricity or gasoline cannot be used. They are
also a good way to test if a local market for oil
exists. Small batch presses can be made of local
materials. Their cost is low. They are not difficult
to operate. And they are easy to repair. The small
presses produce good quality oil.
But the work is hard. And getting all the oil from
the seeds can be difficult. If there is a large
supply of seeds, then hand-operated presses may not
be enough to support a business. Large, powered
presses that can operate all day are needed.
Guides to activities like removing oil from seeds
and nuts are available from the organization
EnterpriseWorks/VITA. These publications can be
ordered for a charge at enterpriseworks.org.
Click on the News & Resources link. Transcripts,
MP3s and archives of our reports can be found at
voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on
Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
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