Ahiflower

Buglossoides arvensis, corn gromwell, is a low, hairy annual about 10 to 40 cm tall, with narrow, rough leaves and small white to bluish flowers, found on field edges and disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia. It produces hard, ridged, grey-brown nutlets about 2 to 3 mm long, usually four per flower.

The nutlets are pressed to yield a pale golden oil with a mild, slightly nutty flavour that oxidises quickly. The oil is sold under the trade name Ahiflower in bottles and capsules, in blends for supplements and food, and in some cosmetic products. It is not eaten as a whole seed in the way flax or chia are.

Corn gromwell is native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia, and it has long been a minor weed of cereal fields, which is the source of its common name. It has been introduced to other regions, including North America.

The name Buglossoides means resembling bugloss, an old name for related plants in the borage family, which in turn comes from Greek words meaning ox tongue. Ahiflower is a modern brand name for the oil from selected varieties cultivated as a crop, developed by Nature's Crops International.

For most of history, Buglossoides arvensis was known mainly as a field weed and, in folk medicine, for the reddish dye found in its roots. Its potential as an oil crop emerged only in the 21st century when plant researchers screened wild plants for seed oils containing stearidonic acid, a rare omega-3 fatty acid. Corn gromwell seeds were found to contain high levels of stearidonic acid alongside alpha-linolenic acid, a combination unusual in a land-plant oil.

A company later bred and selected varieties for farming, and farmers in the United Kingdom and later elsewhere began growing the plant commercially under contract. Regulators in several jurisdictions evaluated the oil as a novel food, and Health Canada published a novel food information document on ahiflower oil, followed by approvals elsewhere.

Ahiflower oil is marketed as a plant-based alternative to fish oil, and companies position it as a sustainable omega-3 source. It illustrates how a once overlooked wild plant can become a crop through breeding and food-regulatory approval, and also how a trade name can come to stand for the plant in popular use.

The oil is sold in liquid form and softgel capsules as an omega-3 supplement, and is added to smoothies, dressings and other cold foods; it is not suited to high-heat cooking. Powders and emulsions made with the oil are used in nutritional products and sometimes in infant or medical formulas where permitted.

In cosmetics, buglossoides seed oil appears on ingredient lists as a skin-conditioning oil. Traditionally, the plant itself was used mainly as a dye and in local folk remedies.

Ahiflower oil supplies alpha-linolenic acid, which the body converts only slowly to long-chain omega-3s, and stearidonic acid, which converts to EPA more efficiently. Human studies show stearidonic acid raises EPA levels in blood, but it does not raise DHA much, and evidence for clinical outcomes such as heart health is not yet well established. It is a plausible vegan omega-3 option but not proven equivalent to fish oil.