Published Paper Details:

Traditionally harvested by millions of women from parkland-managed trees, across swathes of African savannah, shea butter is mostly utilize for the purpose of Cosmetics. Consumed for millennia, its cosmetic use has been documented by famous explorers for centuries; presented to Ibn Battuta, during his mid-fourteenth century Malian travels, and Mungo Park recorded trade while tracking the Niger River during the late eighteenth century. With 200-500 thousand shea nut equivalent tons now exported annually from West Africa, shea has become the second largest natural source of symmetrical stearic-rich triacylglycerols. The cultivation process is largely traditional, involving minimal agricultural inputs and relaying on the nature growth of shea trees which can take up to 20 years to mature. It is extracted using a variety of avenue, including mechanical, solvent, conventional and other combination methods and then refined by bleaching and pretreatment. An overview is given of the industry's current shea butter marketing formulation. This chapter describes the different parts used in cosmetics. There are 161 phytoconstituents present in the shea butter. It has been used as cosmeceutical, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. An extensive consideration of several homemade methods for making cosmetics with shea butter that are utilized in skin care, hair care, and therapeutic treatments.