Influence of Climate on the Tocopherol Content of Shea Butter

Abstract

The shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertner, is the source of a commercial seed fat known as shea butter. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the tocopherol content of shea butters from different regions of Africa showed high variability between provenances and a significant effect of climate on alpha-tocopherol levels. The total tocopherol content (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) in 102 shea butter samples from 11 countries ranged from 29 to 805 microg/g of shea butter, with a mean of 220 microg/g. alpha-Tocopherol, the principal form detected, averaged 64% of the total tocopherol content. Shea butters from Vitellaria populations situated in hot, dry climates had the highest levels of alpha-tocopherol (for example, a mean of 414 microg/g in samples from N'Djamena, Chad). The lowest concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were found in samples from cool highland areas, especially in northern Uganda (a mean of 29 microg/g).

Genotype and year variability of the chemical composition of walnut oil of Moroccan seedlings from the high Atlas Mountains

“…Tocopherol levels increase in response to a variety of abiotic stresses, considered as evidence of its protective role (Munné-Bosch and Alegre, 2002). The climatic conditions of the year, mainly temperature, affect the concentration of the different tocopherol homologhes in several nut crops (Maranz and Wiesman, 2004), indicating that these components depend on the temperature and the occurrence of drought during fruit ripening. Since heat and drought stresses were higher in the 2009 fruit growing season than in 2010 (data not shown), they could increase the concentration of all tocopherol homologues in these non-irrigated genotypes.…”

Effects of Topical and Dietary Use of Shea Butter on Animals

“…With regional variation in concentrations [6,33], the unsaponifiable fraction of Shea butter is composed primarily of triterpene alcohols, with some hydrocarbons, sterols, and other minor components such as vitamin E [34][35][36]. The saponifiable triglyceride fraction of Shea butter constitutes about 90% by mass of the butter [34][35][36][37][38] and is composed primarily of stearic and oleic acids with lesser amounts of palmitic, linoleic and arachidic acids [39].…”

The Use of Shea Butter in the Production of Fried Plantain (Musa AAB) Chips and Its Effect on the Product’s Quality Attributes

“…The non-food applications of shea butter include its use as illuminant in rural areas of African savanna zone (Honfo et al, 2014), in soap making, cosmetics and traditional medicine Okullo et al, 2004). The high demand of shea butter by international cosmetic industries has been attributed to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties due to its high concentration of unsaponifiable compounds such as triterpenes, tocopherol, phenols, and sterols (Alander, 2004;Maranz and Wiesman, 2004).…”