Tea Seed Oil (Camellia Oil)
Tea Seed Oil (Camellia Oil): Nutrition and Culinary Guide
Tea seed oil — also known as camellia oil or tsubaki oil in Japanese — is pressed from the seeds of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis, the same plant that produces tea leaves) or the related ornamental camellia species (C. oleifera). It is sometimes called the "Asian olive oil" because of its remarkably similar fatty acid composition to extra virgin olive oil — very high in oleic acid (approximately 78–80%), low in saturated fat, and with meaningful polyphenol content. Tea seed oil has been used in cooking across southern China for centuries and is particularly associated with Cantonese and Hunan cooking, where it is valued for its clean, neutral flavour, high smoke point (approximately 220–250°C), and health properties. In Japan, tsubaki oil has been used for centuries as a hair and skin treatment as well as a cooking and preserving oil.
Nutritional Value and Uses
Tea seed oil provides 884 kcal and 100 g of fat per 100 g, with 21.1 g of saturated fat — though much of this is the neutral stearic acid. The very high oleic acid content (approximately 78%) gives it excellent heat stability similar to extra virgin olive oil and makes it one of the most nutritionally favourable high-smoke-point cooking oils available. Use for stir-frying, sautéing, and high-heat cooking where a neutral, clean oil is desired. Also excellent in cold applications — dressings and finishing preparations where a very light, clean oil is wanted. Available from Chinese supermarkets and specialty food shops.
Tea seed oil, or camellia oil, is pressed from the seeds of Camellia oleifera — a close relative of the tea plant, but not the same species and not a by-product of tea production. In China it is a major cooking oil, produced at a scale comparable to olive oil in the Mediterranean, and it is sometimes called “Eastern olive oil” for a reason that is compositionally justified. Like olive oil, it is dominated by monounsaturated oleic acid — typically around 80%, which is at the upper end of olive oil's range. The figures on this page give 100 g of fat per 100 g with 21.1 g saturated, so it is a little more saturated than Olive Oil but sits in the same broad family. Where it differs usefully is heat. Refined tea seed oil has a high smoke point, generally quoted around 250 °C, combined with a neutral, faintly sweet flavour. That makes it a genuine option for high-temperature stir-frying and deep-frying where you want oxidative stability without the flavour of olive oil — a combination not many oils offer. One name to be careful with. Tea tree oil is something entirely different: an essential oil from the Australian Melaleuca alternifolia, used topically and toxic if swallowed. The names are close enough that the confusion happens, and the consequences are not trivial. Camellia oil is also the traditional oil used to protect Japanese knives and woodworking tools from rust — the same food-safe oil, sold in a different aisle. As a pure oil, tea seed oil is 884 kcal and 100 g of fat per 100 g, with no protein, carbohydrate or fibre. Nutritionally the only variables that matter are the fatty acid profile and the fat-soluble vitamins. Tea seed oil contains Vitamin E, as most seed oils do, though refining reduces it. It carries no Vitamin D or Vitamin A. The practical point about any oil is that it is the most energy-dense thing in a kitchen at roughly 9 kcal per gram, and swapping between oils changes the type of fat rather than the amount. Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated is the change UK guidance actually asks for; using more oil overall is not.Tea Seed Oil (Camellia Oil) in more detail
Nutrients worth knowing about
Other high-heat and monounsaturated oils