Jojoba

Jojoba is an evergreen, drought-hardy shrub that grows one to three meters tall, with thick, bluish-green, leathery leaves held vertically to reduce sun exposure. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, so only female bushes bear seed.

The fruit is a small, three-sided capsule that dries and splits to release one to three seeds. Each seed is oval, about the size of a small acorn or hazelnut, brown, smooth and slightly glossy, with a thin shell and a soft, oily kernel. The seed is up to half oil by weight.

Commercial products include the golden, nearly odorless liquid pressed from the seeds, and a clear refined version, along with jojoba beads and meal.

Jojoba is native to the Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona, southern California, Baja California and northwestern Mexico, where it grows on rocky slopes and desert flats. It is the only member of its plant family, Simmondsiaceae.

The common name jojoba is pronounced ho-HO-ba and is believed to come from the O'odham language or from Spanish usage, though the details are unclear. The species name chinensis is a famous misnomer: the plant was described in the early nineteenth century from specimens that were thought to have come from China, because of a labeling error, and the name stuck even though the plant is American.

Indigenous peoples of the Sonoran Desert, including the Tohono O'odham, Seri and Cahuilla, knew jojoba long before Europeans arrived. The seeds were eaten in small amounts in times of need, the oil was used as a skin and hair dressing and for healing wounds, and the plant played a role in their ethnobotany.

Outside the desert it received little notice until the twentieth century. Chemists discovered that jojoba oil is not a true fat but a liquid wax made of long-chain esters, which is remarkably stable and resembles the wax of the sperm whale. When commercial whaling declined and the United States restricted sperm whale products in the early 1970s, jojoba became an attractive replacement for the oil that was used in cosmetics and as an industrial lubricant.

Plantations were established in Arizona, California, Israel, Argentina, Australia and other dry regions, and today jojoba oil is a standard ingredient in hair and skin products. Breeders have worked to increase the share of female plants and improve yields, which remain modest.

The main product is the pressed oil, or liquid wax, used in moisturizers, hair conditioners, lip balms, massage oils and soaps, and as a carrier for essential oils. Its resistance to oxidation makes it a long-lasting base in cosmetics.

Industrial uses include lubricants and additives, and the wax has been tested in polishes and candles. Hydrogenated jojoba wax is solid and used like a plant-based beeswax substitute in cosmetics.

Traditional desert communities used the seed in small amounts as food and as a salve for skin. The leaves and twigs are browsed by deer and goats, and the shrub is planted for revegetation in dry areas.

Jojoba oil is a wax ester and is poorly digested, so it is not a source of calories or nutrition in the way that a vegetable oil is. Its main role is topical, where it acts as a light emollient, and small studies suggest it is well tolerated on skin and may help with dryness, but strong evidence for treating acne, wounds or other conditions is limited. The raw seed also contains simmondsin, a compound studied for appetite effects and not considered a safe food.