EFFECT OF PRIMARY PROCESSING OF SHEA FRUIT ON SHEA BUTTER QUALITY

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EFFECT OF PRIMARY PROCESSING OF SHEA FRUIT ON
SHEA BUTTER QUALITY BY ACULEY, P.C. COCOA
RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA, NEW TAFO - AKIM
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SUMMARY Shea butter is obtained from the kennel
of the fruit of (Vitellaria paradoxa) the shea
tree. One of the important economic plants of
West and East Africa Shea butter is very popular
and in great demand among chocolate manufactures
who use it as cocoa butter substitute (CBS). It
is greatly priced by the cosmetic and
pharmaceutical industries for its smooth texture,
excellent skin care and healing properties.
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Despite its popularity,the butter is of very low
market value compared to cocoa butter because the
unrefined butter is of very poor quality. It has
high iodine number, high acid number and high
free fatty acid (FFA) value. Depending on mode
of extraction the butter may attain muddy-brown
to greenish-grey colour, have strong smell and
taste which, further reduces its market value.
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These negative characteristics and drawbacks are
attributed to the way the shea fruit is processed
and the method of extracting the butter. It is
hoped that the under listed recommendations, when
practiced, will greatly improve the quality and
market value of the shea butter.
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• UNIT OPERATIONS DURING PRIMARY PROCESSING OF
  SHEA FRUIT.
• COLLECTION OF FRUITS
• DEPULPING
• WASHING OF NUTS
• PARBOILING OF NUTS
• DRYING OF NUTS
• CRACKING OF NUTS
• SORTING AND DRYING OF KERNEL

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SHEA FRUITS
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UNRIPE
RIPE
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DEPULPED SHEA FRUIT
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SHEA FRUIT PULP
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• PROCESSING OF SHEA BUTTER
• ROASTING
• GRINDING
• EXTRACTION OF BUTTER

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UNIT OPERATIONS DURING PRIMARY PROCESSING 1.1.
The fruits must be collected fresh i.e.
everyday in an efficient manner 1.2. The
fruit must be de-pulped to remove
the growth medium for fungi and yeast
cells 1.3. The nuts must be washed in water .
to cleanse them from
contamination 1.4. Parboiled to arrest
germination and inactivate enzymatic
activities in the kernel.
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1.5. The nuts must be dried to makes the
shells brittle and the kernel shrink to
facilitate easy separation of the kernel
during cracking. 1.6. Cracking must be done
carefully to avoid damage or breaking the
kernel which promote microbial and fungal
attack. 1.7. Drying of the kernel must
be fast and thorough to prevent the
growth of Aspergillus fungi and other
microorganisms on the kernel and also to
prevent Ephestia cautella larvea attack.
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• In comparative studies between kernels
  dried in solar dryers and those dry in the sun
  at CRIG, Aye.(1989)
• Observed that during eleven months in
  storage there was no evidence of growth of
  Aspergillus Spp. And Ephestia cautella attacks
  on the solar dried kernels.
• Kernels dried on raised platforms in the sun
  required longer drying period (18 21 days)
  compared to (10-14 days) for solar dried samples
  depending on the weather.

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• The longer drying period of the sample
  favoured the growth of Aspergillus spp.
• The keeping qualities of the stored sun
  dried samples were also poor.
• The shea kernels had to be re-dried to halt
  the growth of Aspergillus spp and to destroy
  Ephestia cautella larvea.

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DIFFERENT SHEA NUT SIZES
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GOOD
INFESTED
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FUNGI AND INSECT INFESTED
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• To overcome these negative characteristics and
  to improve the yield and quality of the shea
  butter, the following measures are being
  proposed.
• A very quick and efficient method of
  collecting the shea fruit must be devised.
• 2. The processing of the fruit must be started
  as soon as possible and should be a continuous
  process.
• 3. Machines must be designed for the
  de- pulping of the nuts.

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4. After de-pulping the nuts must be washed,
boiled, drained and dried quickly if possible
using mechanical drier to prevent fungal and
other microbial attacks. 5. Cracking of the nuts
must be carefully done to prevent damage to the
kernel. 6. Drying of kernel again must be fast
and should not be done on the floor but on
raised mats or in a mechanical drier.
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7. Quick and more efficient methods must be
employed for extracting the butter e.g. using
mechanical press. 8. If the kernels are to be
stored and transported. They must be properly
dried to 6-8 moisture content and must be kept
in well-ventilated storerooms or warehouses to
keep them from getting moldy. 9. Proper
grading system and quality control measures must
be adopted for shea nut or kernel as for cocoa
and other products.
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10. A national shea nut development board must
be put in place for the promotion of the shea
nut industry. 11. Education and training
programmes on efficient processing of the shea
fruit should be developed for communities that
are involved in the shea nut industry.
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• On shea batter quality,
• The FFA of the solar dried sample had a
  mean value of 0.68 and that of the sun dried
  samples was 2.9.
• Thus rapid and thorough drying of the
  kernels checks the activity of Aspergillus spp
  and the Ephestia cautella larvea which cause
  deterioration of the kernels.

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• During storage the infestation of the
  kernel by Aspergillus spp and other microbials
  and Ephestia cautella larvea increased the FFA
  content due to lipase secreted by the fungi.
• Triacylglycerol is broken down to
  diacylglycerol and then to onoacylglycerol.
  Causing rotting of the sample. (Aye, 1989).
• The extractable fat content is also
  reduced.

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FLOWCHART FOR THE PROCESSING OF SHEA
FRUIT Collection Sorting Washing wholesome
fruits
Washing blemished fruits Pormace
Depulping Sheanut
Depulping Drying
Extraction Washing
Extraction Animal feed Blending
Parboiling
Fermentation
Pasteurization Drying
Distillation
Packaging Cracking
Blending
Kernel
Shell Bottling
Drying
Drying Crashing
Ashing Roasting
Fertilizer Extraction
Butter Expeller Cake Animal
Feed
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION