Defining Shea Provenances:

1. Defining Shea Provenances: Profiling Product Qualities by Origin

2. Appellation d'Origine Controllé (AOC): A series of laws governing the French wine industry: These laws brought “order out of chaos” in the wine industry. This model has been applied to many other products in many countries. © 2003 Wine Glossary: Appellation d'Origine Controllé http://glossary.reference-guides.com/Wine/

3. Appellation d'Origine Controllé (AOC): • These laws control virtually everything related to the growth and production of wine in a given region. • Regional boundaries are specified. • Permitted grape varieties are defined. • Any wine labeled with a given appellation must comply with all the various regulations defining that appellation's wines. © 2003 Wine Glossary: Appellation d'Origine Controllé http://glossary.reference-guides.com/Wine/

4. Appellation d'Origine Controllé (AOC): • The appellation guarantees to the consumer that rigid growing and winemaking rules are followed and, therefore,allows the consumer to know what he is buying. • What is the purpose? • Increase the market by increasing the number of choices available. • Raise the product quality which increases prices. © 2003 Wine Glossary: Appellation d'Origine Controllé http://glossary.reference-guides.com/Wine/

5. Restaurant L’Oeuf Bouilli Mme. Cissé, Propriétrice ä

6. Restaurant L’Oeuf Bouilli Menu L’Oeuf Bouilli ä ä Menu L’Oeuf Bouilli Omelette Souflé Kiche etc. etc. etc.

7. Can a menu of shea nut and shea butter varieties be offered to the market? • Yes! • What shea regional varieties (provenances) are there? • http://prokarite.org/vitellaria-dbase-EN/index.html. • http://prokarite.org/vitellaria-dbase/index.html.

8. Shea butter composition:

9. Trait variations in Vitellaria – • Variation in shea kernel chemical composition: • Fat content. • Fatty acid profiles. • hardness of shea butter • Antioxidants • phenolic compounds • tocopherols • Triterpenes. • sterols

10. Fatty Acid Profile (%) Soft or liquid shea butter

11. Fatty Acid Profile (%) Very hard shea butter

12. Total Triterpene Content Regional variation in shea butter

13. Trait variations in Vitellaria – a few examples:

14. 2-trait combinations Regional variations: High antioxidants N’Djamena, CH Mokwa, NG Foumban, CM Soft butter Hard butter Lan, BF Abim, UG Sebekoro, ML Low antioxidants

15. 3-trait combinations Regional variations: Provenance 1 Provenance 2 High oleic Acid % High oleic Acid % High Vit. E High Sterols High Vit. E High Sterols

16. Multiple-trait combinations Myriad possibilities: • Fatty acids • Oleic • Stearic • Palmitic • Linoleic • Mono-unsaturated • Di-unsaturated • Poly-unsaturated • Triglycerides • SOS • OOS • POS • Vitamin E • a-tocopherol • b-tocopherol • g-tocopherol • d-tocopherol • Phenolics • water-soluble • fat – soluble • Triterpenes • cinnamyl • acetyl

17. Multiple trait combinations can be used to formulate different types of cosmetic products.

18. Shea producers can provide the menu of possibilities: Multiple-trait combinations • Different consistencies/textures • Different levels of specific compounds • Cosmeceuticals • Choice of different antioxidants • Choice of triterpenes/sterols • UV absorbing compounds • Fat/water soluble • Green-tea catechins • Vit. E • Triterpenes • Carotenoids

19. The potential exists for numerous regional shea varieties, each with its own unique profile.

20. Cosmetics currently account for a tiny fraction of the market:

21. Chocolate industry: • A different provenance strategy is required. • Cocoa butter improvers (CBIs) • Cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) • Sophisticated processing is required to create a refined additive to chocolate (up to 5% of final product weight) that increases the melting curve.

22. Melting Curves of Cocoa and Shea Butter

23. Triglyceride with the optimum melting properties (SOS): • Stearic acid (S) • Oleic acid (O) • Stearic acid (S)

24. CBI market targets: • 1.Shea nuts rich in SOS molecule • Stearic-Oleic-Stearic triglyeride • 2.High kernel fat content • Maximizes return on processing costs • Key value: PercentageofSOSin • thekernel

25. It should possible to create a shea nut grading system for chocolate industry exports based on SOS:

26. Rationale: • SOSis the chemically the same in any shea provenance— • The issue, therefore, is how muchSOS there is in the average kernel of a given population. • Ranking populations by kernel SOS % should determine their relative value to the chocolate industry. • With this simple, straight forward method, Vitellaria populations can be graded by CBI cost effectiveness and assigned price premiums.

27. Grading method for CBI shea nut export:

28. Quality issues: • Shea nut grades and shea butter provenances also need to meet quality criteria to qualify. • Degree of fat degradation (some analyses): • Free fatty acid content – measures amount of component fatty acids liberated from glycerol. • Peroxide value – measures peroxide breakdown products (titration). • Anisodine value – measures peroxides (spectrophotometrically).

29. Thanks to all who contributed to this work: • INCO-DC Parklands project - • IER Mali • CNSF Burkina Faso • University of Ibadan Nigeria • COVOL Uganda • Ben Gurion University Oleo-Phytochemistry Lab • Aarhus Oliefabrik • Istituto Sperimentale per la Elaiotecnica • A special thanks to the late • Prof. Giorgio Bianchi • A great person and a great specialist • in oils and triterpenoids.