Shea butter and shea products: what they contain
What it found
The pulp of the shea fruit is rich in vitamin C, and the kernels are high in fat, which is traditionally extracted to make shea butter.
The butter shows some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.
What they found
Vitamin C in pulp
The pulp is rich in vitamin C, at 196.1 mg per 100 g. Eating 50 g covers 332% of the recommended daily intake for children aged 4 to 8, and 98% for pregnant women.
Fat in kernels
Shea kernels contain a high level of fat, between 17.4 and 59.1 g per 100 g dry weight.
How butter is made
Fat is mainly extracted by traditional methods: roasting and pressing the kernels, churning the liquid with water, boiling, sieving and cooling.
Uses of shea butter
The butter is used in food preparation and in the medicinal and cosmetics industries.
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity
The butter's biochemical properties indicate some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.
Variation in values
Large differences are seen in the reported values for the composition of shea products.
What the authors conclude
“Its biochemical properties indicate some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.”
Also in their conclusions
- They recommend future research to improve the quality and the shelf-life of the butter.
- They say more attention should be given to the accuracy and precision of experimental analyses to obtain more reliable information about biological variation.
How it was done
Demand for shea kernels and butter is rising, so the authors assessed what is known about these products.
They surveyed the scientific literature on the nutrients in shea pulp, kernels and butter, and on the chemical and physical properties of shea butter.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This is a review of published values, not a new experiment, so it cannot show what happens when people eat shea products.
- The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities come from lab measurements, not from studies in people.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Benin
The paper
- Title
- Nutritional composition of shea products and chemical properties of shea butter: a review
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Honfo FG, Akissoe N, Linnemann AR, Soumanou M, Van Boekel MA (2014). Nutritional composition of shea products and chemical properties of shea butter: a review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. doi:10.1080/10408398.2011.604142PubMed 24261539DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error