How is Shea butter made ?

Used for consumption, beauty and health purposes, the shea tree and fruits have multiple benefits that Africans learned to use and appreciate. In Africa, Shea butter is part of daily routines in the kitchens for cooking but also for hair and skin health. The Shea fruit is a plum size delicious pulp enveloping a shell containing the nut used to make the butter.

Photo by Assanatou Keita in Siby (Mali), 2019

The process starts when the shea fruits fall on the ground. They are hand picked and left to dry until the end of the shea season. In certain part of West Africa, a special oven built with mud and an opening for firewood is used. The oven heats the shells for few days to ease the extraction of the nuts done by cracking the shells.

Next the nuts are pounded or grounded to produce a dark brown paste. Water is then added to the paste and churned to produce the butter. This step is very laborious and can take hours.

Once all the fat and butter is release and the paste turns into a light brown, it is then boiled for the oil to be released at the surface and all the waste remains at the bottom of the recipient (the waste is often used as combustible).

Finally the oil at the surface is filtered and left to cool down for the butter to form. :)