The first edible oil used in China is animal oil, which can be found in Zhou Li? Celestial officer? It has been recorded in People's Republic of China that the technology of oil extraction from plants began in Han Dynasty, and it was used as paint. It was not until sesame seeds were introduced to Zhang Qian that edible vegetable oil came into being.

Edible oil, also known as "cooking oil", refers to animal or vegetable oils used in the process of making food. It is liquid at room temperature. Due to the source of raw materials, processing technology and quality, common edible oils are mostly vegetable oils, including corn oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, hemp oil, corn oil, olive oil, camellia oil, palm oil, mustard seed oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, linseed oil, grape seed oil, walnut oil, peony seed oil and so on.

When did the earliest vegetable oil appear?

People ate fat in the pre-Qin period, and by the time of the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, vegetable oil was widely used. At that time, besides sesame oil and rapeseed oil, there were also sesame oil and soybean oil.

After Zhang Qian was introduced to the Western Regions in the Western Han Dynasty, flax (sesame) and red and blue flowers were introduced to the Central Plains successively, and the oil pressing technology may be introduced at the same time. There are records about flax planting in Fan Sheng Zhi Book. Extracting and utilizing vegetable oil is not later than the Western Jin Dynasty.