I’m Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report.
We have an e-mail from
Phan Tan Hien, who wants to know about the jojoba
[ho-HO-ba] plant and the uses for its oil.
Jojoba is a woody plant that grows in the southwestern United States and
northwestern Mexico. It needs dry weather and cannot survive low temperatures.
The jojoba plant produces a high quality oil. In fact, more than half of the
seed can be oil. This liquid wax does not spoil easily. And it keeps its
chemical qualities at temperatures up to three hundred degrees Celsius.
Jojoba oil is mainly used in skin care and beauty products. Scientists say
the oil is chemically similar to the oil produced by human skin.
But jojoba oil can also be used to control insects on crops. It was approved
in the United States as a pesticide in nineteen ninety-six.
It can be sprayed on all crops to fight white flies. It
is also used to control mildew
on grapes and on non-food plants. Jojoba-based pesticides work
mainly by forming a barrier between a plant leaf and pests.
The Environmental Protection Agency says jojoba oil is not a risk to
non-target organisms. And it says it does not know of any harmful effects to
humans even if the oil is eaten. But farmers should not release jojoba products
into waterways. Oils are generally dangerous to water life.
Many industrial uses for jojoba oil are being studied.
It can be used as a lubricant
for machines or electronic parts. It has even been considered as a
low-calorie food additive because the body cannot break down jojoba oil.
Large plantings of jojoba in the United States are said to date back to the
late nineteen seventies. The export market started to grow in the middle of the
nineties. By two thousand, the Agriculture Department found that about ninety
percent of American jojoba oil was exported. France, Switzerland and Japan are
major importers.
The International Jojoba Export Council has members in Mexico and the United
States. It also includes companies and universities in Australia, Argentina,
Chile, Peru, Egypt and Israel.
A limited number of producers, and changing harvest conditions, mean that
prices for jojoba oil can change sharply.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. For more information about jojoba, go to voaspecialenglish.com. We have a
link to a guide written by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the
University of Minnesota. I'm Shep O'Neal.
jojoba :
加州希蒙得木；產于美國西南部及墨西哥北部的一種雌雄異株灌木，長有堅韌的對生葉，種子可食用并含有一種有價值的油 （jojoba oil
俗稱“荷荷巴油”）
mildew : A plant disease caused by such
fungi（(植物的)霉病）
lubricant : 潤滑劑
（來源：VOA 英語點津姍姍編輯）
