Nuts About Shea Butter
Written and Photographed by Lisa Maliga
Copyright 2012 Lisa Maliga
Second Edition
Smashwords Edition
Disclaimer:
The information in this book was gathered from various sources. It is in no way meant to prevent, cure, or diagnose any medical condition. All recipes and products suggested should not be used for purposes other than that for which they were intended. All products are for EXTERNAL USE ONLY. If you are allergic to latex then shea butter is not recommended as it contains a small amount of natural latex. The author accepts no liability for the misuse of these products. Please do not rely on products or information as a substitute for medical advice. If you have a medical problem, contact a health care practitioner. Product statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.
If you wish to reproduce any part of a book you must request permission in advance, as the material is protected under copyright law.
All requests must be made via email to: lisa_maliga@msn.com
"The information in this book is researched well and presented in understandable everyday terms. Each type of unique Shea butter is covered with detailed information that was presented in an interesting way, not just a bulleted list of facts. The tips about shelf life, storage and shipping would be helpful for anyone wanting to stock large quantities of Shea butter." B. Tackitt, Red Adept Reviews
Chapter 1 - What Is Shea Butter?
Chapter 3 - Making Shea Butter
Chapter 4 - Fair Trade Shea Butter
Chapter 5 – Unrefined Shea Butter
Chapter 6 – Refined/Ultra Refined Shea Butter
Chapter 7 - High Melt Shea Butter
Chapter 9 – Nilotica Shea Butter and Oil
Chapter 11 - Whipped Shea Butter
Chapter 12 - Shelf Life, Storing & Shipping Shea Butter
Chapter 13 - Shea Butter Care & Handling Tips
Chapter 14 - Shea Butter's Benefits
Chapter 15 - Shea Butter Applications
Chapter 16 - Interviews with Shea Butter Suppliers
Unrefined Shea Butter
Back in 1999 I first read about shea butter as a soap additive. It sounded like something I wanted to try so I bought a small amount of refined shea butter from a local bath & body products supplier. I wasn't sure of the difference between refined and unrefined shea butter, I just knew that when I added a small amount to my soap the lather felt richer and creamier. It also made my skin feel softer when I used it after washing my hands. Nice stuff, I thought. Now, how about that unrefined shea butter?
Soon I discovered a mother/daughter team on a soapmaking group who had unrefined shea butter for sale. The mother agreed to send me a sample, even though I offered to drive to her home to pick it up in order to save on postage. She had no website or shopping cart and just sent me a small disc of a brownish colored substance that was on the hard side. If this was unrefined, I thought, I'm sticking with refined.
As more online soap and bath & body products suppliers came into being, I kept buying small amounts of various types of shea butter. Some were rich and creamy, others resembled cow patties. Shea butter came in different colors from white to cream to beige to tan to greenish brown. Later, I'd learn more about the shea varieties and the regions from which this African nut butter originated. I experimented with making whipped shea butter and lip balms and body balms. I spent two years perfecting my whipped shea butter recipe. Shea butter was added to all my soaps. In the spring of 2003 I named my company after it: Everything Shea. I equally loved soap crafting and merged that with my love of shea butter as an additive or the main ingredient.
The popularity of shea butter has increased greatly since 2003. Back then I wasn't able to walk into a discount store and find it. Now I can. It can be found in drug stores, discount stores, supermarkets, beauty supply shops and department stores. Some of it is genuine, some of it is mixed with a host of other ingredients, and some of it contains shea butter in tiny quantities.
Chapter 1 - What Is Shea Butter?
What is shea butter and where does it come from? In the late 1700's, Scottish explorer Mungo Park wrote a book entitled Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa. Mr. Park writes about how he came across shea butter and basic manufacturing techniques of the shea tree in 18th century Africa. "…a commodity called Shea-toulou, which, literally translated, signifies tree-butter. This commodity is extracted by means of boiling water from the kernel of the nut; as will be more particularly described hereafter; it has the consistence and appearance of butter; and is in truth an admirable substitute for it. It forms an important article in the food of the natives, and serves also for every domestic purpose in which oil would otherwise be used. The demand for it is therefore very great."
Mr. Park reveals more about the importance of the shea tree in Africa and how the shea butter was harvested. "The people were everywhere employed in collecting fruit of the Shea trees, from which they prepare the vegetable butter…These trees grow in great abundance all over this part of Bambarra [West Africa]. They are not planted by the natives, but are found growing naturally in the woods; and in clearing wood land for cultivation, every tree is cut down but the Shea. The tree itself very much resembles the American oak; and the fruit, from the kernel of which, being first dried in the sun, the butter is prepared by boiling the kernel in water, has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped in a sweet pulp under a thin green rind; and the butter produced from it, besides the advantage of its keeping the whole year without salt, is whiter, firmer, and, to my palate, of a richer flavor than the best butter I ever tasted from cow's milk."
Those of us in North America generally don't think of shea butter as an ingredient to spread on a slice of toast or use to fry vegetables or meat. To us, shea butter is for external use. But did you know that shea butter is often added to chocolate in Europe and Asia? Other butters such as palm, palm kernel, sal and illipe are also used; the chocolate industry refers to it as a CBE -- cocoa butter equivalent. "Shea is considered to be the best of the CBEs and is particularly useful in chocolate manufacture as it raises the melting point, giving increased shine and hardness at room temperature." J.M. Boffa, Agroforestry Parklands in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1999.
Shea butter has many names in various languages, but another commonly used one is karite. Where does this word originate? "The name Karité is the vernacular with the Ouoloff and Toucouleur tribes." Chemical technology and analysis of oils, fats and waxes, Volume 2.
The shea butter tree's botanical name is vitellaria paradoxa. This means it's from Western Africa. The shea trees hail from the following countries: Benin, Cameroon; Congo, The Democratic Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Shea is also given another botanical name which you will commonly see on labels: butyrospermum parkii. This means butter seed, referring to the genus. And parkii is Latin for Park, so honoring the Scottish explorer.
The East African shea butter trees are named vitellaria nilotica. They grow in gallery forests in Sudan and Uganda and produce a somewhat different type of shea butter.
Technically, shea butter is a nut fat, as it is derived from the crushed nuts of the karite tree that grows wild in the African savannah, an area that comprises more than a dozen countries and is approximately the size of America. People from these countries are quite accustomed to the benefits of shea butter. They massage it on their skin and hair; they cook with it, and it’s known to help people of all ages with accelerating the healing of minor cuts, burns, and scrapes. Those who try natural shea butter discover that applying it onto their skin, a thin protective layer forms. And shea butter is easily absorbed into your skin!
Karité means tree of life, and they are very well named. Not only is the shea nut used, but these enduring trees live for hundreds of years and only begin providing fruit by the time they are about 25-30 years of age. Most wild [as opposed to cultivated which is very small scale at this time], karite trees are pollinated by small fruit bats, which help to ensure the continued existence for this tree of life. The shea nuts aren’t picked from the trees as they must first mature and fall from the trees where they are then collected. Women are responsible for the gathering and production of shea nuts and helping cultivate them into valuable shea butter. The process of harvesting the shea fruit is time consuming, but the results are well worth the amount of effort that goes into each batch of natural shea butter. While the ripe green, fleshy fruit is rich in ascorbic acid as well as vitamin B; the kernels inside the nut that comprises the shea butter.