Flaxseed Oil

Flaxseed oil, also called linseed oil or flax oil, is a colorless to yellowish oil pressed from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum, sometimes followed by solvent extraction. Food-grade flaxseed oil is cold-pressed without solvents and sold as a dietary supplement valued for its omega-3 content, between 57 and 71 percent polyunsaturated fat, providing 126 calories, 8 grams of omega-3 and 14 grams of total fat per tablespoon, and is traditionally eaten in parts of Europe with potatoes and quark; raw cold-pressed oil turns rancid quickly and needs refrigeration unless it is meant for industrial use. The same oil, produced at larger scale, is also a long-established industrial ingredient, used as a binder in oil paints, a wood finish, a component of putty, and in linoleum manufacture, though synthetic alkyd resins have replaced much of that industrial use since the 1950s.