Emu Oil as Presented at the 90th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo

Excerpt:
"Sixteen female Caucasian subjects were used, ranging in age from 39 to 64 years. Black and white photographs were taken both before and after the study. Measurements (in millimeters) of the major wrinkles in each photograph were done using a caliper. Results...showed that there was a significant difference in wrinkle length after treatment with emu oil...it appears that emu oil indeed can significantly reduce the length of wrinkles," relates Langoni's abstract content.


Emu oil was a topic of interest for the third year in a row at the 90th American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) Annual Meeting & Expo in Orlando, Florida held from May 9 - 12, 1999.

Symposium chairperson Ernesto Hernandez of Texas A&M University, Food Protein R&D, remarks that once again, the discussions relating to emu oil were well received. "We had our biggest audience so far," says Hernandez. "For a new oil, symposium, interest group and division, we did very well. Between 30 and 50 people attended the various discourses pertaining to emu oil. This meeting received even more interest than the other discourses relating to fats and oils."

Eight presentations were under the program's three day session titled "Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Applications of Specialty Oils." Four of the discourses focused specifically on emu oil.

"Uses of Emu Oil in Wound and Burn Healing," by Dr. Dan C. Dean, Family Medical Care, Michigan, discussed the experiences of the use of emu oil in a family practice setting. In the AOCS discourse program abstract Dean makes this mention: "Emu oil is a very effective moisturizer for patients with dry skin and mucous membranes... chronic wounds such as diabetic ulcer, stasis ulcers, and pressure ulcers all respond well to the topical use of the oil.”

Dean's abstract summary related that emu oil has been a very pleasant alternative treatment option, is very well tolerated, and appears to be compatible with other treatments.

"Emu Oil in the Treatment of Skin: What Might be the Mechanisms?" as presented by Leigh Hopkins of the American Emu Association, addressed emu oil as appearing to exert a positive action on a diverse set of skin problems.

Hopkins' AOCS program abstract mentions that, "While chronic wounds are very different from chronic psoriasis and atopic dermatitis and acute wounds are very different from chronic wounds, emu oils appear to correct the dysfunction in the cell cycle of the various cells that have been implicated in these skin problems."

"Are There Geographic Differences in Emu Oil Which Could Affect Its Transdermal Properties?" was the title of the oration by Dr. William E. Code, Department of Anesthesia, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Code's discussion referred to the differences of polyunsaturated fatty acids in deep ocean fish verses shallow ocean fish as well as differences in constituents of membranes in plants in response to winter.

"Furthermore, it is accepted that Canadian flax is higher in co-3 oils than the same species of flax grown in the southern United States. Preliminary data corroborate this hypothesis in emus," reads Code's abstract data.

Code's AOCS program abstract went on to mention that the thicker and clear components of emu oil may differ in that the clear upper component may be higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

According to Code's abstract, “If this bears out, it could certainly influence the optimal marketing strategy for unique or niche type markets based on that geographic region's emu oil.”

Kristi N. Langoni, Fort Lewis College, Department of Biology, Durango, Colorado, delivered the exciting discourse and slide presentation, “The Effects of Emu Oil on the Length of Wrinkles on Skin." Hernandez relates that Langoni's presentation was sponsored by the American Emu Association(AEA).

Langoni's experiment was to determine if emu oil could reduce the length of wrinkles after a five week treatment. Her AOCS program abstract comments that the experiment included a double-blind study, using corn oil as a control.

"Sixteen female Caucasian subjects were used, ranging in age from 39 to 64 years. Black and white photographs were taken both before and after the study. Measurements (in millimeters) of the major wrinkles in each photograph were done using a caliper. Results...showed that there was a significant difference in wrinkle length after treatment with emu oil...it appears that emu oil indeed can significantly reduce the length of wrinkles," relates Langoni's abstract content.

Additional session speakers included Hernandez (Specialty Oils: Processing Technologies and Properties), Edward Siguel, NUTREK, Inc. (Designing Foods Rich in Essential Fats: Issues, Problems, and Strategies), and Barry Sears, Sears Laboratories (The Use of Polyethylene-Linked Phospholipids as Delivery Systems for Water-Insoluble Therapeutic Agents and The Use of Chemically Modified Fatty Acids as Therapeutic Agents in Wound Healing).

Both Sears and Siguel are world renowned for their work and both are very interested in emu oil, according to Hernandez, who relates that Siguel mentioned that he was going to include emu oil in his next revised edition of Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Disease.

"The major finding that we discussed was how Sears explained on a molecular level some of the mechanisms that take place when healing takes place using various specialty oils, and nobody has done this before," says Hernandez. "While Sears didn't mention emu oil, emu oil could fit in there as one component that speeds up healing."

Researchers, scientists and other industry representatives from several countries attended the various specialty oil discourses.

Reflects Hernandez: "Some pharmaceutical company representatives mentioned that they were going to explore the application of emu oil in some of their ingredients. There are also companies (that usually work with more common oils such as soybean or sunflower) that are now interested in processing emu oil because of learning about it at this meeting and these companies are currently working to develop methods to better process emu oil. Because they are fairly small, and see how much demand there is or there could be for emu oil, they now advertise to process emu oil."

Hernandez also mentioned that several individuals from Europe that were also "very interested" in emu oil.

There were many emu oil industry representatives on hand to promote and discuss emu oil with session attenders including several emu oil processors and product manufacturers as well as AEA President Margaret Pounder. Hernandez says Pounder was "very supportive" and also attended the annual AOCS Ratite Interest Group meeting.

Also in attendance was Ed and Jeanette Huston of Fairview Farm and Emu Products Company in Bonsall, California. Jeanette relates that they attended for two reasons: because they wanted to see what the program was all about and they also wanted to support the emu oil industry. "We were told that the ratite producers should have a presence there."

"We were impressed with the interest from the scientific field that was there," comments Ed Huston. "There are some scientists now definitely getting interested in emu oil. My overall impression was that the scientists in the fats and oils industry are working very hard to change their image from 'fats are bad' to 'some fats are necessary' by focusing much research and advertising on the benefits of essential fatty acids. This will help the emu oil industry."

The Hustons mentioned that they were very impressed with just how much interest in emu oil they discerned among scientists and researchers of various organizations.

"I would like to add that things in the scientific world move very slowly," said Ed. "So we do not expect any instant changes, but the wheels are grinding and the scientific community is taking interest. The scientific industry is definitely aware of and interested in emu oil and the scientists that attended all said that they were going to continue investigating the benefits and qualities of emu oil, and that's good news for the industry."

"We thought it was a success," adds Jeanette, "and we recommend that more emu industry representatives join the AOCS, attend AOCS conferences, and read their published papers pertaining to benefits of the kinds of components contained in emu oil."

For the past two years the Ratite Common Interest Group (CIG) has held an annual meeting at the annual AOCS meeting. The Ratite CIG was launched in May 1996 in an effort by ratite industry representatives in conjunction with the AOCS to become better organized as a group to develop industry standards for ratite oils.

Hernandez related that the CIG was subjected to change this year and explains: "What we're trying to do is expand the scope of the group to not just include ratite oils, but to include applications that are similar to ratite oils - cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It will tentatively be called The Specialty Applications Division. We had some complaints from the ostrich and rhea oil producers - they're not large as a group but they're very vocal. In addition, there are other oils that have similar properties and they want to have a voice in the division as well. So we are working to form if not an interest group a division that well serves all the ratite oils and as many as these specialty oils as possible, but with the emphasis of cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications - we don't want to encompass everything."

Hernandez announced that if interest continues in emu oil he doesn't see why there won't be more presentations on the oil at the Annual 91th AOCS Meeting & Expo.

Says Hernandez, "Emu oil is still going strong as far as applications. I receive phone calls all the time from emu oil processors that are doing extremely well. The oil seems to be finding a market out there."

From Emu Today and Tomorrow, August 1999