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| Shea / Shay | ||||||||||||||
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 Shea nuts
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| Butyrospermum parkii Kotschy |
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Butyrospermum paradoxa Vitellaria paradoxa |
Butyrospermum parkii, Shea or Shea nut, (syn. Vitellaria paradoxa, B. paradoxa) is a tree indigenous to Africa, occurring in Mali, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Uganda. The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which is extracted shea butter.
A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known vegetable has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.[1]
A number of steps are required to process the seed and obtain shea butter. First, the outer pulp is removed. Second, the shea nut is shelled; historically, shelling is done by mortar and pestle or by crushing the shell with stones; however, the Universal Nut Sheller is an appropriate technology that reduces a significant amount of labor involved in shelling shea. Once shelled, the seed is then roasted and either ground down or pressed to extract the oils that make shea butter.
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Uses
In the West, shea is most often associated with cosmetics. This "butter" has many uses and may or may not be refined. The refining version may be extracted with chemicals such as hexane or use clay filtering. Throughout Africa it is used extensively for food and medicinal purposes, and is major dietary source of dietary fat.
Etymology
Some common names are shítoulou ("shea butter tree") in the Bamana and Malinke languages of Mali and ghariti in the Wolof language of Senegal. The latter is the origin of the French name of the tree and its butter, karité. The first is the origin of the English word, and is correctly pronounced "shee" to rhyme with another e-a containing word, tea; "shay" means chicken in Bambara and the other Manding languages of West Africa.
The tree is perhaps better known as Butyrospermum parkii (the genus name meaning "butter seed"; the epithet honouring Mungo Park, who learned of the tree while exploring Senegal). However, Vitellaria paradoxa is the earlier name and has priority, and should therefore be used (a proposal to conserve Butyrospermum parkii failed narrowly).
Shea trees take approximately 31 years to reach maturity.
References
External links
- "A History of Shea Butter".
- "Machine to shell shea".
- Vitellaria paradoxa in Brunken, U., Schmidt, M., Dressler, S., Janssen, T., Thombiano, A. & Zizka, G. 2008. West African plants - A Photo Guide. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main.
- Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables A report released by the National Research Council in 2006.
