Physico-Chemical Properties of Locally Processed Shea Butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) from Parts of Niger State, Nigeria

The suitability of shea butter as a dietary fat is greatly influenced by its physicochemical parameters as well as fatty acid composition.  Thus, the present study was conducted to assess the physicochemical and fatty acid composition of shea butter sampled from three  vegetational zones; Zone A (Agaie and Lapai Local Government Areas Coordinates) Zone B (Suleja and Gurara Local Government Areas) Zone C (Kontagora and Magama Local Government Areas in Niger State. The physicochemical parameters which include; colour,  moisture, pH, oil yield, acid value, peroxide and saponification were analyzed according to standard methods. Results obtained showed  that the colour of the shea butter from the 3 zones were orange/yellow. Moisture content ranged between 2.07±0.21 and 2.40±0.21; pH  values ranged between 5.27±0.14 and 5.34±0.14; Oil yield ranged from 52.76±4.27 and 56.12±4.27; Acid values ranged from 2.47±2.61 to  3.77±2.61. Saponification ranged between 183.51±0.09 and 193.57±0.09; Peroxide values ranged between 0.54±0.38 and 1.04±0.38  respectively. There were significant and non-significant differences in the values of all the physicochemical parameters sampled from the  3 zones (p<0.05). Fatty acid composition revealed that the values of Oleic, linoleic, palmitic and arachidic ranged between 48.65±1.23 and  52.78±0.74; 7.24±1.21 and 8.30±1.30; 6.43±0.24 and 7.35±1.26; 0.63±0.11 and 0.84±0.08 respectively. The parameters assessed compared  favourably with the reports from previous studies, indicating that the shea butter could serve as a source of food to the rural dwellers.