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''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'',''Vitellaria paradoxa''.
AgroForestry Tree Database. World Agroforestry Centre.
and is indigenous to Africa. The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which
shea butter Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from yellow the nut of the African shea tree (''Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moi ...
is extracted. It is a deciduous tree usually 7–15 m (23–49 ft.) tall, but has reached 25 m (82 ft.) and a trunk diameter of 2 m (6.5 ft). The shea tree is a traditional African food plant. It has been claimed to have potential to improve nutrition, boost food supply in the "annual hungry season", foster rural development, and support sustainable land care.


Description

The tree starts bearing its first fruit when it is 10 to 15 years old; full production is attained when the tree is about 20 to 30 years old. It then produces nuts for up to 200 years. The fruits resemble large
plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
s 4 to 8 centimetres long weighing between 10 and 57 grams each. These fruits take 4 to 6 months to ripen; the average yield is 15 to 20 kilograms (33-44 lbs.) of fresh fruit per tree, with optimum yields up to 45 kilograms (99 lbs.). Each kilogram of fruit gives approximately 400 grams (14 oz.) of dry seeds.


Subspecies

*''Vitellaria paradoxa'' subsp. ''nilotica'' -Cameroon, Mali, and Burkina Faso


Distribution and habitat

The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry
savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
belt of West and South from Senegal in the west to
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and South 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 Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
,
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan,
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. The habitat area in total spans as wide as 5,000 square kilometres. A
testa Testa may refer to: * Testa (botany), a term to describe the seed coat * Testa (surname) * Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, a former Boston law firm * 11667 Testa, a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1997 * Testa (ceramics), fired clay material, espe ...
found at the site of the medieval village of Saouga is evidence of shea butter production by the 14th century.


Uses

Shea butter Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from yellow the nut of the African shea tree (''Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moi ...
has many uses and may or may not be refined. In the West it is most commonly used as an emollient in cosmetics and is less commonly used in food. Throughout Africa it is used extensively for food, is a major source of dietary fat, and for medicinal purposes. In Ghana and Nigeria, shea butter is a major ingredient for making the
African black soap black soap, or black soap (also known by various local names such as ''ose dudu'', ''sabulun salo'', and ''ncha nkota''), is a kind of soap originating in West Africa. It is made from the ash of locally harvested African plants and dried peels, w ...
. The edible protein-rich caterpillars of the moth ''
Cirina butyrospermi ''Cirina butyrospermi'' is a species of moth of the family Saturniidae described by André Vuillet in 1911. The caterpillar of ''C. butyrospermi'' is eaten as source of protein in West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmo ...
'' which feed solely on its leaves are widely collectedNikiema, A. & Umali, B.E. "Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.". - In: Van der Vossen, H.A.M. & Mkamilo, G.S. (eds.) "Plant resources of tropical Africa 14 : vegetable oils". - Wageningen : PROTA Foundation ; Leiden : Backhuys ; Wageningen : CTA, 2007. - 236 p. - p.182-187. and eaten raw, dried or fried.


Composition of shea butter

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that in addition to many nonsaponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with
alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...
) contains the following fatty acids: oleic acid (40–60%),
stearic acid Stearic acid ( , ) is a saturated fatty acid with an 18-carbon chain. The IUPAC name is octadecanoic acid. It is a waxy solid and its chemical formula is C17H35CO2H. Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "''stéar''", which means tallow. ...
(20–50%), linoleic acid (3–11%), palmitic acid (2–9%), linolenic acid (<1%) and arachidic acid (<1%).. It also contains the vitamins A, E and F.


Etymology

The common name is ''shíyiri'' (in
N'Ko N'Ko () is a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Mandé languages of West Africa. The term ''N'Ko'', which means ''I say'' in all Mandé languages, is also used for the Mandé literary standard writt ...
: ) or ''shísu'' (, lit. "shea tree") in the
Bambara language Bambara (Arabic script: ), also known as Bamana (N'Ko script: ) or Bamanankan (), is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 15 million people, natively by 5 million Bambara people and about 10 million second-language us ...
of Mali. This is the origin of the English word, whose primary pronunciation is (rhyming with "tea"), although the pronunciation (rhyming with "day") is common and is listed second in major dictionaries. The tree is called ''ghariti'' in the Wolof language of Senegal, which is the origin of the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
name of the tree and the butter, ''karité''. In
Hausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a member ...
the tree is called ''Kaɗe'' or ''Kaɗanya''. Indeed, the shea tree is so indispensable in Mole-Dagbang culinary and ethno-botanical practices that the Northern Ghanaian city of Tamale etymologically derives its name from the more traditional Dagomba name 'Tama-yile' (meaning 'Home of Shea nuts'). The tree was formerly classified in the genus ''Butyrospermum'', meaning "butter seed". The species name ''parkii'' honors Scottish explorer Mungo Park, who learned of the tree while exploring Senegal. Park's Scottish origin is reflected in the English word shea, with a final -ea.


References


External links


Vitellaria paradoxa.
In: Brunken, U., et al. 2008. ''West African Plants — A Photo Guide''. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main. {{Authority control Crops originating from Africa Flora of Ivory Coast Trees of Africa Cosmetics chemicals Sapotoideae Monotypic Ericales genera Sapotaceae genera