Shea Butter Fruit Live Plant (Vitellaria paradoxa)

Vitellaria paradoxa is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree usually growing 7 - 15 metres tall. It is commonly known as shea tree, shi tree, or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.It is a multipurpose tree which has a wide range of food and medicinal uses as well as supplying timber, soap, oil and latex, it is commonly harvested from the wild, but is also sometimes cultivated. The kernel of the seed (often incorrectly called ‘nut’) contains a vegetable fat known as shea butter. Shea butter from fresh seeds is white, odourless and of high quality, while that from stale seeds is dark, and tastes bitter. High quality shea butter is consumed throughout West Africa as a cooking fat. Refined fat has been marketed as margarine and baking fat. It is used for pastries and confectionery because it makes the dough pliable. It is a useful cocoa butter substitute because it has a similar melting point (32 - 45°C) and high amounts of di-stearin (30%) and some stearo-palmitine (6.5%) which make it blend with cocoa butter without altering flow properties.

Common Name: Shea tree, Shi tree,Vitellaria, Shea butter

Botanical Name: Vitellaria paradoxa

Bloom Time/Fruiting: 3 to 5 Years

Maintenance Required: Moderate