Everything about Shea Butter totally explained
Shea nut butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural
fat extracted from
fruit of the
shea tree by crushing and boiling. Shea butter is widely used in cosmetics as a
moisturizer and an
emollient. Shea butter is also edible. It is used as a
cooking oil in
West Africa, as well as sometimes being used in the
chocolate industry as a substitute for
cocoa butter.
The
shea or karite tree, formerly
Butyrospermum paradoxum, is now called
Vitellaria paradoxa. It produces its first fruit (which resemble large plums) when it's about 20 years old and reaches its full production when the tree is about 45 years old. It produces nuts for up to 200 years after reaching maturity. Many vernacular names are used for
Vitellaria, which is a reflection of its extensive range of occurrence—nearly 5,000km from
Senegal (west) to
Uganda (east) across the
African continent. The nomenclature history and synonymy of the shea tree followed a very tortuous evolution since the oldest recorded specimen collected by a European—
Scottish explorer
Mungo Park— dated
May 26,
1797. It eventually arrived at the name
vitellaria with subspecies
paradoxa and
nilotica. It usually grows to an average height of about 15m with profuse branches and a thick waxy and deeply fissured bark that makes it fire resistant. The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry
savannah belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to
Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the
Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely
Benin,
Burkina Faso,
Cameroon,
Central African Republic,
Chad, Ethiopia,
Ghana,
Guinea Bissau,
Côte d'Ivoire,
Mali,
Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Sudan,
Togo, Uganda,
Zaire and
Guinea.
In Ghana (FAO, 1988a), it occurs extensively in the Guinea savannah and less abundantly in the Sudan Savannah. The shea tree occurs over almost the entire area of Northern Ghana, over about 77,670 square kilometers in Western Dagomba, Southern Mamprusi, Western Gonja, Lawra, Tumu, Wa and Nanumba with Eastern Gonja having the densest stands. There is sparse shea tree cover found in Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, and the Eastern and Volta regions in the south of the country.
Properties
Shea butter is known especially for its
cosmetic properties as a
moisturizer and
emollient. It is also a known
anti-inflammatory agent.
Shea butter is marketed as being effective at treating the following conditions: fading
scars,
eczema,
burns,
rashes, acne, severely dry skin,
blemishes, dark spots, skin discolorations, chapped lips, stretchmarks, wrinkles, and in lessening the
irritation of
psoriasis. Shea butter provides natural
ultraviolet sun protection, although the level of protection is extremely variable, ranging from none at all to approximately SPF 6. Sun-sensitive persons shouldn't rely on shea butter for protection. Shea butter absorbs rapidly into the skin without leaving a greasy feeling.
Shea butter is comparatively richer than other emollients but scarcity of supply results in an erratic market price.
Uses
Shea butter can be found in many high end moisturizing
skin products. Shea butter is known for its skin softening effect. It is also used in
hair conditioners to add and maintain
moisture in dry brittle
hair, in addition to revitalizing and preventing breakage.
Shea butter is used in some indigenous ceremonies. Followers of the
Holy Spirit Movement rebel group of Uganda smeared their bodies with shea butter in the belief that it would stop
bullets.
Handcrafted shea butter is used in Togo, West Africa for ceremonies among the
Fulani ethnic group.
Many carvers of
djembe shells and other African
drum shells use shea butter to condition the wood. Shea butter is also used to condition the goat or cow skin heads of these drums.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Shea Butter'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://shea_butter.totallyexplained.com">Shea butter Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
