Beauty Out of Africa

Shea Nuts to Shea Butter – The Final Product

The final product of the extraction process is a beautiful, smooth, ivory to light yellow shea butter with it's characteristic nutty scent. The wisdom and skill of these African women to extract this rich nourishing butter from a brown shea nut never ceases to amaze me.

The process for quality shea butter begins with the harvesting. The end result will be shea butter with the following characteristics

• Low FFA (Free Fatty Acids)


• Low Moisture Content


• Low impurities

Shea Nuts to Shea Butter – The Final Product

The final product of the extraction process is a beautiful, smooth, ivory to light yellow shea butter with it's characteristic nutty scent. The wisdom and skill of these African women to extract this rich nourishing butter from a brown shea nut never ceases to amaze me.

The process for quality shea butter begins with the harvesting. The end result will be shea butter with the following characteristics

• Low FFA (Free Fatty Acids)


• Low Moisture Content


• Low impurities

Methods for drying shea nuts – Sun Drying

Drying is a critical step in the production process. The nuts must be thoroughly dried in order to produce good quality shea butter. One of the characteristics of good shea butter is low moisture content. Proper sun drying ensures low moisture content and eliminates mold in the nuts and rancidity in the final products.

The challenge with sun drying is that it is time consuming. The drying period incidentally, coincides with the rainy season, so the women have to pay close attention to the weather.  The women spread out the nuts on a mat in order to dry.

Opportunities to improve the sun drying process include introducing a drying platform that will keep the nuts off the ground and allow air to circulate.

Other Methods of drying include Solar Panels and Traditional Ovens.

Methods for drying shea nuts – Sun Drying

Drying is a critical step in the production process. The nuts must be thoroughly dried in order to produce good quality shea butter. One of the characteristics of good shea butter is low moisture content. Proper sun drying ensures low moisture content and eliminates mold in the nuts and rancidity in the final products.

The challenge with sun drying is that it is time consuming. The drying period incidentally, coincides with the rainy season, so the women have to pay close attention to the weather.  The women spread out the nuts on a mat in order to dry.

Opportunities to improve the sun drying process include introducing a drying platform that will keep the nuts off the ground and allow air to circulate.

Other Methods of drying include Solar Panels and Traditional Ovens.

Shea Nuts to Shea Butter – Producing a Quality Product

The key to quality shea butter is the process that begins from the moment the shea nut is harvested until the shea butter is extracted from the nut. If the process is compromised, the resulting shea butter will not meet the following standards:

The features of good quality Shea butter are

• Low Free Fatty Acids (FFA)


• Low Moisture Content


• Low impurities


• Beige to Yellow color


• No rancid or smokey smells

Shea Nuts to Shea Butter – Producing a Quality Product

The key to quality shea butter is the process that begins from the moment the shea nut is harvested until the shea butter is extracted from the nut. If the process is compromised, the resulting shea butter will not meet the following standards:

The features of good quality Shea butter are

• Low Free Fatty Acids (FFA)


• Low Moisture Content


• Low impurities


• Beige to Yellow color


• No rancid or smokey smells

Shea: From Tree to Nuts

Shea: From Tree to Nuts