Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are examples of fats from other parts of plants. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils are usually edible.
Marseille soap or Savon de Marseille (French pronunciation: [savɔ̃ də maʁsɛj] ) is a traditional hard soap made from vegetable oils that has been produced around Marseille, France, for about 600 years. The first documented soapmaker was recorded from the city in about 1370. By 1688, Louis XIV introduced regulations in the Edict of Colbert limiting the use of the name Savon de Marseille to olive oil based soaps. The law has since been amended to allow other vegetable oils to be used.
By 1913, production had reached 180,000 tons. Thus, in 1924, there were 122 soapmaking companies in the Marseille and Salon-de-Provence areas combined. However as of 2023, there were only four remaining, all part of an association called Union des Professionnels du Savon de Marseille (UPSM).