Shea Butter
The Shea tree is native to Africa, growing in 21 African countries. It is a wild tree that grows naturally in the dry Savannah regions of the continent. The sweet buttery flesh of the small green fruits is eaten, leaving the large hard nut. The nut holds a kernel inside which is needed to produce Shea Butter. Shea Butter Production The nuts from the shea tree are gathered and shelled to remove the kernels. The kernels are cleaned and dried under the sun, then roasted and grounded to form a paste. The shea paste is mixed with water and the mixture is beaten to start the separation process. Heat is then added to this mixture to completely separate the butter from the water and paste, this butter is scooped out and heated a second time to remove any extra moisture or dirt and then packaged for use or sale. Shea Butter is called "Man-Kadai" (Hausa), "Ori" (Yoruba) and "Okuma" (Igbo) in Nigeria. It is a fat derived from a nut which hardly has an al...