The Sissili and Ziro provinces are the most important production centres. Further, shea nuts are the country’s third most important export after cotton and livestock. Since both shea nuts and shea butter are exported in huge quantities from Burkina Faso, their quality is extremely important.
How are shea nuts processed?
Subsequently, the nuts are processed by boiling, roasting, or sun-drying. Boiling in water prevents the shea seeds from germinating and prevents hydrolytic degradation of the extracted shea butter. The boiled shea nuts are sun-dried, and then the dried shea nuts are cracked to obtain the kernels.
Why do Shea nuts need to be boiled?
Boiling in water prevents the shea seeds from germinating and prevents hydrolytic degradation of the extracted shea butter. The boiled shea nuts are sun-dried, and then the dried shea nuts are cracked to obtain the kernels. The kernels, too, are either sun-dried or roasted to eliminate any residual moisture.
Do Shea nuts need to be roasted?
The kernels, too, are either sun-dried or roasted to eliminate any residual moisture. Alternatively, the shea nuts can be oven-roasted or smoked to dry them out; however, this method has its risks, like increasing the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the extracted shea butter.
How to refine shea butter?
Crude shea butter obtained from the extraction process undergoes many refining steps. The process of how to refine shea butter begins with pretreatment and bleaching, which is followed by deodorisation and deacidification to obtain refined shea butter.
How do you clean a shea nut?
Seed cleaning and conditioning begins with separating the shea fruit pulp from the nut either by fermentation or manually. Subsequently, the nuts are processed by boiling, roasting, or sun-drying. Boiling in water prevents the shea seeds from germinating and prevents hydrolytic degradation of the extracted shea butter.