Camellia, in the food context, refers primarily to Camellia oleifera and related species grown for their oil-bearing seeds. These are close relatives of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and the ornamental camellias common in Australian gardens. Tea seed oil — also called camellia oil — has been used in Chinese and Japanese cooking for over a thousand years.
The oil pressed from camellia seeds is light, mild-flavoured, and has a high smoke point, making it suitable for stir-frying, deep-frying, and use as a finishing oil. It’s sometimes compared to olive oil in terms of its fatty acid profile, being high in oleic acid.
Camellia oil is a major cooking oil in southern China, particularly in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi provinces. It’s gaining recognition internationally as a premium cooking oil, though it remains far less common than olive, canola, or other mainstream oils in the Australian market.
How it's produced
Camellia oleifera is grown as a tree crop in subtropical and warm temperate regions, primarily in southern China, which accounts for the vast majority of global production. The trees are long-lived, beginning to bear fruit around three to five years after planting and remaining productive for decades. They flower in autumn and the fruit ripens the following year, with harvest typically occurring in late autumn.
The ripe fruit capsules are picked by hand, then dried and cracked to extract the seeds. The seeds are cold-pressed or expeller-pressed to produce oil, with the highest grades coming from cold-pressing without chemical solvents. There is very limited camellia oil production in Australia, though the climate in parts of eastern Australia is suitable for growing the trees.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for vegetable oils, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
What comes from this
Your household's take
One thumb per person, shared with your household — it steers what the wider-web shelf and the swap chips offer you. Tap again to take it back.
✎ Spotted something wrong? Suggest a correction
Checking who you are...