I read up on it. I was unaware of Batana (ojan) oil before this post.
Here's some info for those like me:
Monday, May 26, 1997 Online Edition 55
Traditional hair care treatment still available today
By WENDY GRIFFIN
Many of Honduras' Indian groups have horrible traditional names. Paya means "brute" while Jicaque and Sumu mean "uncivilized person." The exception to this rule are the Miskito Indians, who are also known as the Tawira, or "the people of beautiful hair."
The secret to the beautiful hair of the Miskitos is batana, an oil extracted from pine nuts. It is believed to prevent baldness and greying and to encourage the growth of thick, shiny hair. Batana in its traditional form is dark brown. A Guatemalan anthropologist once used for several years on his silver hair and ended up with light brown hair. Batana probably prevents greying by a natural coloring process.
The sun on the North Coast is strong, but unlike other ethnic groups like the Garifunas and Ladinos, the Miskitos usually do not wear a hat. The oils in batana may have helped their hair be less brittle and softer, keeping it from breaking. Most traditional remedies which prevent baldness do so by improving scalp health also so that hair is less like likely to fall out.
Batana is available in two forms. The MOPAWI La Mosquitia development agency sells traditionally processed batana oil in each of its three stores in Puerto Lempira, La Ceiba and Tegucigalpa. And now the oil is also available in shampoo form from the Honduran company Helixe, which also makes other natural health and beauty care products. On the North Coast, this shampoo is sold in the Despensa Familiar Supermarket, located on Central Park in Tela and one block over from San Isidro Church in La Ceiba.
ALOE VERA
In Central Honduras, a number of plants are used to prevent hair loss and dandruff. These include achiote (anetto seed), zapote fruit, cola de raton and aloe vera (more commonly known as zabila). Aloe is the best known and is grown all over Honduras, although the plant is native to Africa.
Ethnobotanist Paul House of the National Autonomous University of Honduras says aloe has been proven to improve the health of the skin. This is why it is also used to heal burns, cuts, insect bites and skin and stomach ulcers. The part of the plant that is used is the gel inside the leaves.
Aloe is used in three form in Honduras. First you can use the leaf itself, which can be grown in your garden or a flower pot. Split open a leaf. Rub it into your hair and scalp, using a little water if your hair is thick. Let it soak in for about 20 minutes, during which your scalp will itch like crazy if you have dandruff problems. Then wash or rinse it out.
Salvadoran pharmaceutical companies also make aloe bar soap that is meant to be used on the skin and scalp. Wash your hair with it, let it sit 20 minutes, then rinse.
Aloe is also available in shampoos and conditioners made in Honduras by Helixe. Vett, another local manufacturers, makes aloe shampoo as well algae and ginseng shampoos and conditioners at under a dollar a bottle. Both this and the batana shampoo leave your hair clean, but not stripped like some harsher shampoos.
CASTOR OIL
Looking at Afro-American hair care products in the Bay Islands, you will notice most are made with castor oil. The castor plant, also known as higuero or higuerilla in Spanish, is native to Africa but grown on the North Coast.
The technique of extracting the oil of the castor plant is known by the Garifunas, who also use it to prepare a laxative, and clean out whatever it wrong in the digestive track. No one has yet commercialized the extraction of castor oil in Honduras, even though the plant grows well on the North Coast. All commercial castor oil hair care products here are made in the United States, even though 20 to 30 percent of Hondurans are at least partially descended from Afro-Americans and could thus benefit from this specialized hair care product.
Hondurans also use herbs to prepare healing baths. Rosemary, ruda, cucumber, aloe and oatmeal are all available in soap form under the brand name Dermacare, produced by the Chemical Manufacturing and Exporting Company of Honduras. For those bothered by insect bites that do not heal, or heat rash, Honduran soaps made with sulphur, such as Jabon Sulfa or Dermacare's Jabon Azufre can be quite effective. Dermacare's products are also available at Despensa Familiar.
Other Honduran plants, like surecy, chilca and madriado (madre cocoa) are used for rashes, itching, and healing, but are not yet available in commercial form. Of these plants, chichipins shows the most potential to be made profitably into a soap, as it has been scientifically been shown to have antibacterial and antifungal properties, as well as helping to heal and promoting the scarring of wounds when used as a soap, according to the book Plantas Medicinales Comunes de Honduras, available at Libreria Guaymuras in Tegucigalpa.