Camellia oleifera is one of the oldest woody edible vegetable oils in China, which is extracted from Camellia oleifera seeds. China is the most widely distributed country of camellia plants in the world, and it is also the largest camellia oil production base in the world except Southeast Asia, Japan and other countries. The central producing area of tea oil is located in southwest China and parts of Hunan and Gannan. Its cultivation history is over 2300 years, and it is a unique oil-bearing tree species in China. China is the origin of tea oil.
Tea oil is a unique traditional edible vegetable oil in China, and its production and development have a long history. According to the narrative book of Shan Hai Jing in the third century BC, "the staff is wood, and the south is oil and grain". The "official wood" mentioned here is tea oil, which shows that our people began to extract tea oil for consumption at that time. Historically, tea oil used to be used for royal meals. According to historical records, using millet flour and raw materials, together with almonds, peanuts, kelp, diced tofu and flavored tea oil, is a recipe for imperial court meals, which shows that enjoying tea oil is a symbol of status. Tea oil is a tribute treasure of past dynasties, with delicious taste and rich nutrition. It has a history of more than 2000 years. Qin called Gan Lao Gao Tang, Han called Gao Tangji Shell Tea, and Tang called Camellia oleifera, which has been used ever since. According to historical records; During the Chu-Han dispute, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was injured and went to Wuzhi, where he recuperated and was named the imperial court. Li Shangyin, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, once endowed tea oil with the poem "fragrant and delicious, rushing out of An Changchun". In Qing Dynasty, Yong Zhengdi went to Wuzhi to inspect dangerous workers in the Yellow River. Wu Shilu, a magistrate of a county, presented oil tea, and Yongzheng was overjoyed. He praised that "Huaiqing Camellia oleifera is as smooth as crisp, and the delicacies of mountains and seas are incomparable", and issued a decree to open the tea oil pipeline to make tea oil famous all over the world. Camellia oleifera was widely introduced to many mountainous areas in Chenzhou in AD 62 1 and in the fourth year of Tang Wude. During the Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty in A.D. 15 14, there was a large area of camellia oleifera forest in Chenzhou. Now there is Su Xian tea oil in Chenzhou, which is extracted and processed by modern technology. It is a woody plant oil with high monounsaturated fatty acid content, which is the highest in all vegetable oils and has high nutritional value. Modern science has confirmed that the fatty acid composition of tea oil is very similar to olive oil, but its average composition is higher than olive oil.
Now people also find that tea oil has a reasonable nutritional structure, is beneficial to health, and its resources are extremely scarce, so it is particularly precious. Because its fatty acid composition is very similar to olive oil, it is known as "Oriental olive oil" and has become an edible vegetable oil that is required to be developed vigorously in the Outline of Food Structure Reform and Development Planning in China.