Perilla Seed Oil: An Overlooked Local Source of Omega-3

The Nutritional Profile of Perilla Seed Oil

Perilla seed oil is extracted from the seeds of the perilla plant and stands out for its ALA content, typically reaching 50% to 60% or more — even higher than flaxseed oil — making it one of the highest omega-3-concentration plant oils around. It's also a food that's common and easy to find locally in China: Yunnan, Sichuan, and Hunan all have traditions of eating perilla, and perilla seed oil shows up often in neighboring Korean and Japanese cuisine as well.

How It Compares to Flaxseed Oil

Both oils rely mainly on ALA as their fatty acid of note, though perilla seed oil has a more distinctively fresh, fragrant flavor, and some regions have long-standing traditions of eating perilla seeds and their oil directly. The same precautions apply: it doesn't hold up to high heat, so it's best used cold or in low-temperature cooking, and it's best refrigerated after opening to prevent oxidation.

Ways to Use It

• In cold dishes: drizzle a little over smashed cucumber or cold tofu
• Over congee or salad: add it after cooking to avoid destroying nutrients with high heat
• On its own: a spoonful a day, following the label, as a daily omega-3 supplement

When used as a cooking oil, avoid high-heat stir-frying to preserve the activity of its unsaturated fats.

A Suggestion

For vegetarians who don't care for the taste of flaxseed, or who want to try a more local ingredient, perilla seed oil is worth getting to know — it can be rotated with other omega-3 sources to add variety to your everyday diet.