Rowan & Thistle

PLATE No. 013

Ingredient Collection

Broccoli Seed Oil

Brassica oleracea var. italica

Botanical plate of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica): a plant with a thick stalk, large blue-green leaves and a tight green head, some shoots opening into small yellow flowers, beside a flowering stem, a single flower, a slender green seed pod, a pod opened on its row of seeds, small brown seeds and a yellow-green drop of oil.

Figure Key

  • Fig. 1 Plant
  • Fig. 2 Flowering stem
  • Fig. 3 Flower
  • Fig. 4 Seed pod
  • Fig. 5 Open seed pod
  • Fig. 6 Seeds
  • Fig. 7 Broccoli seed oil

The Ingredient

The part of broccoli we usually eat is only one stage in the plant's life. Left to mature, broccoli sends up yellow flowers that eventually develop into slender seed pods filled with small round seeds. Those seeds yield a remarkably silky oil with a fatty-acid profile that gives it exceptional slip and smoothing properties, particularly useful for hair and skin

From Plant to Ingredient

  1. Broccoli Seed Oil, step 1 — Broccoli Plant: a broccoli plant with a green head, blue-green leaves and a few yellow flowers.

    1. Broccoli Plant

    The familiar broccoli head eventually produces flowering stems and yellow blossoms.

  2. Broccoli Seed Oil, step 2 — Seed Pod: a slender green seed pod with a curling tip.

    2. Seed Pod

    After flowering, long pods develop to hold the maturing seeds.

  3. Broccoli Seed Oil, step 3 — Broccoli Seeds: a small cluster of round red-brown seeds.

    3. Broccoli Seeds

    The mature pods contain the small round seeds that hold the oil.

  4. Broccoli Seed Oil, step 4 — Broccoli Seed Oil: a single yellow-green drop of oil.

    4. Broccoli Seed Oil

    The seeds yield a light, exceptionally silky oil.

Why We Chose It

Broccoli seed oil gives us exceptional slip and smoothing without relying on a heavy-feeling oil. Its unusual fatty-acid profile helps hair feel smoother, shinier, and easier to manage while providing lightweight conditioning for skin. It's a plant-derived way to achieve the silky glide people often associate with silicone-based ingredients.

What You'll Notice

  • Smoother Hair — Helps strands feel smoother with less roughness and friction.
  • Natural Shine — Adds gloss without an excessively oily feel.
  • Better Manageability — Provides slip that helps hair feel easier to work with.
  • Silky Conditioning — Leaves hair and skin feeling soft and conditioned.

Botanical Profile

Scientific Name
Brassica oleracea var. italica
INCI Name
Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil
Plant Part Used
Seed
Final Ingredient
Oil
Origin
Germany

A Closer Look

Broccoli seed oil's unusually silky feel comes largely from erucic acid, a fatty acid naturally abundant in the seed oil. It gives the oil exceptional slip and a smooth, glossy finish—one reason broccoli seed oil can feel surprisingly different from many other plant oils.

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