Mahua Oil

Mahua oil is pressed from the oil-rich seeds of Madhuca longifolia, a tall tropical tree native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar, whose seed oil content typically runs from roughly a third to over half of seed weight. In Indian food traditions it is used as a cooking fat and vegetable butter, while the tree's sugar-rich flowers are separately gathered to make syrups, sweeteners, and, when fermented, a traditional alcoholic drink consumed at celebrations across central India. The tree holds deep cultural importance for many indigenous communities in the region, who have relied on both its oil and its flowers for generations.