Shea butter is derived from an African plant, Vitellaria paradoxa belonging to the Sapotaceae family.

It is used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, baked goods, biodiesel and other fields.

It is mainly made up of fatty acids (1).

• 28-56% Stearic acid
• 34-61% Oleic acid
• Gallic acid

The trees that provide a higher content of these fatty acids are those from West Africa rather than from East Africa.

Medicine.

It is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, including inflammation and fever. This is an ethyl acetate capable of exerting an anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatoid action (2).

Two derivatives, glucosylcucurbic acid and methyl glucosylcucurbate, were recently isolated from the shea kernel. These and their derivatives of cucurbic acid and cucurbate methyl, were evaluated for their melanogenesis-inhibiting cancer properties (3).

For more information:

Shea butter studies

References___________________________________________

(1) Akihisa T, Kojima N, Katoh N, Ichimura Y, Suzuki H, Fukatsu M, Maranz S, Masters ET. Triterpene alcohol and fatty acid composition of shea nuts from seven African countries. J Oleo Sci. 2010;59(7):351-60. doi: 10.5650/jos.59.351.

(2) Eyong KO, Foyet HS, Baïrys G, Ngosong Folefoc G, Acha Asongalem E, Lagojda A, Lamshöft M. A new ursane triterpenoic acid and other potential anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic constituents from EtOAc extracts of Vitellaria paradoxa stem bark. J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Nov 4;174:277-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.08.014. 

(3) Zhang J, Kurita M, Ebina K, Ukiya M, Tokuda H, Yasukawa K, Masters ET, Shimizu N, Akihisa M, Feng F, Akihisa T. Melanogenesis-inhibitory activity and cancer chemopreventive effect of glucosylcucurbic acid from shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) kernels. Chem Biodivers. 2015 Apr;12(4):547-58. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.201400424.

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Zhang J, Kurita M, Shinozaki T, Ukiya M, Yasukawa K, Shimizu N, Tokuda H, Masters ET, Akihisa M, Akihisa T. Triterpene glycosides and other polar constituents of shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) kernels and their bioactivities. Phytochemistry. 2014 Dec;108:157-70. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.09.017.