Shea Butter: History, Culture, and Use

History and Legend

“From the Meroe Kingdom and Ibn Batouta to Mungo Park, it seems that all of western Africa stood in the shade of the karité, or shea butter tree, for many centuries.”

From the time the baby is welcomed to the world with a vigorous rub-down with shea butter to the dead king’s bed which is specially made from the noble trunk of the shea tree, village life moves to the rhythm of this sacred tree, as do the lives of its women.

History and Legend

Indeed, from July to December, all of women’s activities revolve around collecting the nuts in the bush, selling them in the market, and preparing the fruit from the tree to meet the family’s household and culinary needs throughout the year.

History and Legend

The natural antioxidant qualities of the shea nut allow this wild product to be stored.

History and Legend

The Discovery of Shea Butter by Mungo Park

The scientific name Butyrospermum parkii was given to the shea tree in honor of the great Scottish explorer Mungo Park, who was the first European to travel up the Gambia River in the late 18th century.

The Negro slave-merchants, who besides slaves, bring to sell to the whites, and supply the inhabitants of the maritime districts with native iron, sweet-smelling gums and frankincense, and a commodity called shea-toulou which, literally translates to shea butter.

The Discovery of Shea Butter by Mungo Park

“The people were everywhere employed in collecting the fruit of shea trees, from which they prepare the vegetable butter.

These trees grow in great abundance all over this part of Bambara.

The Discovery of Shea Butter by Mungo Park

They are not planted by the natives, but are found growing naturally in the woods; and in clearing woodland for cultivation, every tree is cut down but the shea.

The Discovery of Shea Butter by Mungo Park

Shea Tree

• Family: Sapotaceae

• Height: The tree can reach a height of 10 to 15 m.

Shea Tree

• The shea tree has a very long lifespan, up to 200 years. It produces fruit after its fifteenth year, but doesn’t reach full production until it is 25 years old.

Shea Tree

Shea Tree

• The shea tree loses its leaves during the dry season and regains them during the rainy season.

• Five months after flowering (June to July), the ripe fruit falls to the ground.

Shea Fruits/Nuts/Kernels

• The fleshy fruits grow in bunches and are ovoid berries of a deep green or brown color, shaped like an avocado.

• The sweet pulp is edible. • Inside the fruit is a nut surrounded by a thin shell

containing a hard kernel and a whitish almond-like nut that contains fat equal to about 50% of its weight, called shea butter.

Shea Tree

Shea Butter

Transformation of the Nut into Shea Butter

16 processing steps of hard work

Step 1 Collection of the fruit

1. Shea fruits should be collected between May and September, according to agro-ecological areas.

2. Start collection before the fruits begin to germinate.

3. Collect only fruits that have fallen down, because they are mature.

Handle the fruits carefullyHandle the fruits carefully

Step 2: Removal of the pulp:

1. After collection, remove the pulp manually (maximum delay is 3 days after collection).

2. Wash the nuts.

Step 3: Cooking

• Cook immediately after washing in order to inactivate the lipases and micro-organisms.

• The cooking time is two hours after water has reached boiling.

Step 4: Drying

• The boiled nuts quickly are spread to dry in the sun for two to three days.

• The moisture content of the dried nuts should not be over 7%.

Step 5: Packaging

•The thoroughly dried nuts should be packaged in jute bags. •Jute bags are porous, allowing air flow to reduce moisture / condensation and heat build-up.

Step 6: Storage

• Baskets are an alternative to jute bags.

• If stored in bags or baskets, the product can keep its shelf-life for a year.

• Storage should be done in dry, aerated rooms at ambient temperature.

• Avoid putting the bags directly on the ground, use palettes or flat big stones.

Step 7:Dehulling (removal of shell)

• Dehulling of the dried nuts to extract the kernels should be done just before processing.

• Each nut is cracked by hand using a mortar and pestle. A dehuller machine can also be used.

• Separate the pericarp and the endosperm of the kernels (by winnowing).

• Sort out to remove the immature, germinated and spoiled kernels.

• After this, spread to sun-dry kernels once more.

Step 8:Coarse Grinding

1. The traditional method of crushing the shea nuts is with a mortar and pestle.

2. Course ground powder (ready for toasting) can be obtained this way with no problems

Step 9:Grilling of coarse powder

1. The coarsely crushed shea powder is grilled slightly to decrease their moisture content.

2. The length of toasting/grilling depends on the existing moisture content of the powder.

3. The existing moisture content of the powder is judged by the texture – if granules easily separate or

not.

Step 10:Fine Grinding

• Use a mechanical grinder to obtain a fine, thick nut paste.

• Generally, the finer the particles, the higher the extraction yield.

Step 11:Kneading

1. The shea paste is mixed with portions of clean, potable water. This thick mixture is kneaded and then more water is added. Kneading initiates the separation of oil from the other components.

2. As more water is added, the mixture is churned (French ‘barratage’).

Step 12:Churning

• Portions of hot and cold water are alternatively added to the churned mixture. It is beaten vigorously until a white emulsion forms.

• This emulsion is washed 7 times to remove the pieces of endosperm.

Step 13Heating of Oil and Crystallization

• Put a small quantity of water in cooking pan and then heat the emulsion. The end of the heating is determined when white foam forms on the surface of the liquid oil.

• After cooling, the oil is filtered several times.

Final Product

• After heating and crystallization, the final product is a creamy ivory-colored butter.

Step 14: Conditioning and packaging

• To maintain physio-chemical qualities, shea butter should be stored and packaged in plastic or aluminum containers previously washed and dried.

• The packaging should be a dark color and opaque.

Step 15: Labeling

Labeling and packaging should be attractive to consumers and should indicate:

• composition/ingredients• production date • shelf-life

Step 16:Preservation

• Shea butter, perfectly conditioned and packaged, has a shelf-life of at least one year. The storage conditions are:– Avoid exposure to air and moisture (moisture content of product

should be < 1%).– Condition in an opaque plastic package to avoid exposure to

light and oxidation.– Avoid packaging components containing iron.

Use

HOW DO AFRICAN PEOPLE USE THE TREE BUTTER THAT BRAVE YOUNG MUNGO PARK DESCRIBED OVER 200 YEARS AGO?

• One-half of the delicious and nutritious butter is eaten at home.

• It is an important cooking fat and keeps well for months.

Use

The butter or oil is used to treat:• skin and scalp problems• stiff muscles and wounds and many, many other

ailments• it is also used to treat the sores and injuries of animals

Use

The nut meal is used to:

• Waterproof buildings, mend cracks

• Feed animals

Use

The remaining black residue is used to:

• Fill more cracks

• As a fire starter

Use

• AND THE REST OF THE TREE?

• Shea Tree leaves are put in the doorway of a house where a baby is being born to protect the newborn child.

• Shea Tree leaves are placed over the body of a dead person.

Use

• Shea Tree leaves contain foaming substance and are used for washing soap.

• They are made into a tea for stomach aches, a vapor bath for headaches, and an eye bath.

Use

• Shea Tree roots are used as teeth-cleaning chewing sticks.

• The roots are ground and used in a preparation to treat jaundice, diarrhea and stomach ache.

Use

• A liquid made by soaking Shea Tree bark in water is used as a cattle wormer and to treat leprosy, stomach upset, diarrhea, and dysentery in humans.

• Bark liquid can counteract the effects of eye damage caused by the spitting cobra.

Use

• Shea Tree nut husks are used for garden mulch, fertilizer, and fuel

• Shea Tree wood is heavy, strong and resistant to termites

Use

The inferior Shea Butter is used to:

• Grease donkey carts

• Waterproof doors and windows

• Waterproof beehives

• As fuel for lamps

Use

TodayShea Nuts and Butter are used:

• Chocolate Candy

• Pharmaceuticals

• Cosmetics

Properties of Shea Butter

• Healing• Body Aches• Massage• Moisturizer• Anti-aging• Protect against sun damage• Stretch-marks• Hair dryness and damage

African Extracted Shea Butter

100% Pure, Natural, Organic

Let your skin drink in the benefit of this unscented pure moisturizer

African Extracted Shea Butter

Use and Contribute to:

• Feed people• Educate children

• Better the life of rural women in this part of the world• Protect the environment