{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Speciesbox | image = Vitellaria paradoxa MS 6563.JPG | image_caption = Shea tree | image2 = Vitellaria paradoxa MS4195.JPG | image2_caption = Shea nuts | status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn/> | display_parents = 2 | genus = Vitellaria | parent_authority = C.F.Gaertn. | species = paradoxa | authority = C.F.Gaertn. | synonyms = *''Butyrospermum'' {{small|Kotschy}} *''Micadania'' {{small|R.Br.}} *''Butyrospermum paradoxum'' {{small|(C.F.Gaertn.) Hepper}} *''Butyrospermum parkii'' {{small|(G.Don) Kotschy}} *''Lucuma paradoxa'' {{small|(C.F.Gaertn.) A.DC.}} |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=''Vitellaria'' C.F.Gaertn. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30011168-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Vitellaria paradoxa'' C.F.Gaertn. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:790034-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref> }}

'''''Vitellaria paradoxa''''' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as '''shea tree''', '''shi tree''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|iː|(|ə|)}}, also {{IPAc-en|ʃ|eɪ}}),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anonymous |title=shea, n. meanings, etymology and more {{!}} Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/shea_n |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Anonymous |title=SHEA TREE {{!}} Pronunciation in English |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/shea-tree |website=Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus |access-date=17 December 2024}}</ref> or '''vitellaria''', is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus '''''Vitellaria''''',<ref name=waf>[http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=394 ''Vitellaria paradoxa''.]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} AgroForestry Tree Database. World Agroforestry Centre.</ref> and is indigenous to Africa.

The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which shea butter is extracted. It is a deciduous tree usually {{convert|7|–|15|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall, but has reached {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} and a trunk diameter of {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

The shea tree is a traditional African food plant. It has been said to have potential to improve nutrition, boost food supply in the "annual hungry season",<ref>{{cite web|author1=E.T. Masters |author2=J.A. Yidana |author3=P.N. Lovett |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5918e/y5918e11.htm |title=Trade and sustainable forest management |publisher=FAO.org |access-date=2010-09-14}}</ref> foster rural development, and support sustainable land care.<ref>{{cite book |author=National Research Council |title=Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11763 |access-date=2008-07-15 |volume=2 |date=2006-10-27 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-10333-6 |chapter=Shea |chapter-url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11763&page=303 }}</ref>

==Description== The tree starts bearing its first fruit when it is 10 to 15 years old; full production is attained when the tree is about 20 to 30 years old. It then produces nuts for up to 200 years.

The fruits resemble large plums 4 to 8 centimetres long weighing between 10 and 57 grams each.<ref name=honfo>{{cite journal|last1=Honfo|first1=Fernande|last2=H. N.|first2=Akissoe|last3=Linnemann|first3= Anita|last4=Soumanou Mohamed|last5=Boekel|first5=Martinus|year=2014|title=Nutritional Composition of Shea Products and Chemical Properties of Shea Butter: A Review|journal=Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition|volume=54|issue=5|pages=673–686|doi=10.1080/10408398.2011.604142|pmid=24261539 |s2cid=6345738}}</ref> These fruits take 4 to 6 months to ripen; the average yield is {{convert|15|to|20|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of fresh fruit per tree, with optimum yields up to {{convert|45|kg|lb|abbr=off}}. Each kilogram of fruit gives approximately {{convert|400|g|oz|abbr=off}} of dry seeds. The fruit is edible.

==Nomenclature and taxonomy== ''Vitellaria'' is a monotypic genus, i.e., it has only one species. The species has variously been known botanically as ''Vitellaria paradoxa'', ''Butyrospermum parkii'', and ''Butyrospermum paradoxum''. Many botanical works from the late 19th and much of the 20th centuries used the name ''Butyrospermum parkii'', which is still commonly found in the cosmetics trade. However, ''Vitellaria paradoxa'' is the oldest name (published in 1807) and has been generally used in recent decades, as necessitated by the rules of botanical nomenclature; efforts in 1962 to make ''Butyrospermum'' the official scientific name for the genus (i.e., to "conserve" the name) were unsuccessful.<ref name=":0">Lovett, P. N. 2015 Shea butter: properties and processing for food use. In Talbot, G. (ed.) ''Specialty Oils and Fats in Foods and Nutrition.'' Elsevier. pp. 125–158.</ref>

The species has two subspecies:

*''Vitellaria paradoxa'' subsp. ''paradoxa'' (roughly from the Nigeria-Cameroon border westward)<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Buyinza Okullo">{{cite web |last1=Buyinza |first1=J. |last2=Okullo |first2=J. |title=Threats to conservation of Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica (Shea Butter) Tree in Nakasongola district, Central Uganda |url=https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=AU2019109125 |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=AGRIS: International Information System for the Agricultural Science and Technology}}</ref><ref name="Gwali Nakabonge Okullo Eilu pp. 1883–1898">{{cite journal |last1=Gwali |first1=Samson |last2=Nakabonge |first2=Grace |last3=Okullo |first3=John Bosco Lamoris |last4=Eilu |first4=Gerald |last5=Nyeko |first5=Philip |last6=Vuzi |first6=Peter |date=2012-09-14 |title=Morphological variation among shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica) 'ethnovarieties' in Uganda |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=59 |issue=8 |pages=1883–1898 |doi=10.1007/s10722-012-9905-8 |issn=0925-9864 |s2cid=207147736}}</ref> *''Vitellaria paradoxa'' subsp. ''nilotica'' (Kotschy) A.N. Henry & Chithra & N.C. Nair (roughly from the Nigeria-Cameroon border eastward)<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Buyinza Okullo"/>

==Distribution and habitat== thumb|left|Distribution of shea trees

The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry savannah belt from Senegal in the west to Sudan and South Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Guinea. The habitat area extends over more than {{Convert|5000|km}}.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Masters|first1=E. T.|last2=Yidana|first2=J. A.|last3=Lovett|first3=P. N.|date=April 2004|title=Rendre la gestion plus rationnelle grâce au commerce: les produits du karité en Afrique|url=http://www.fao.org/3/y5918f/y5918f11.htm|journal=Unasylva|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|volume=55|issue=219|pages=46–52}}</ref>

A testa found at the site of the medieval village of Saouga is evidence of shea butter production by the 14th century.<ref name=neu>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1007/BF01373925|title = Remains of woody plants from Saouga, a medieval west African village|journal = Vegetation History and Archaeobotany|volume = 7|issue = 2|pages = 57–77|year = 1998|last1 = Neumann|first1 = Katharina|last2 = Kahlheber|first2 = Stefanie|last3 = Uebel|first3 = Dirk| bibcode=1998VegHA...7...57N |s2cid = 128820299}}</ref>

In Uganda, shea trees are found in the Lira and Otuke districts of Northern Uganda. To protect the species, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) issued a directive banning the cutting of shea trees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-01|title=Lango communities plant trees for charcoal, firewood to save endangered species|url=https://www.radiocomnetu.org/voiceoflango/2023/06/01/632/|access-date=2026-02-09|website=Voice of Lango|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-13 |title=Will ban on endangered tree species work? |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/will-ban-on-endangered-tree-species-work--1741498 |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Monitor |language=en}}</ref>

==Uses== thumb|Preparing a sandwich with fried shea tree caterpillars at the Boromo bus station in Burkina Faso. Shea butter has many uses and may or may not be refined. In the West it is most commonly used as an emollient in cosmetics and is less commonly used in food. Throughout Africa it is used extensively for food, is a major source of dietary fat, and for medicinal purposes. In Ghana and Nigeria, shea butter is a major ingredient for making the African black soap.{{cn|date=June 2025}} In the Lango and Acholi cultures, shea butter (known as Moo Yao in Luo),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-01 |title=Lango communities plant trees for charcoal, firewood to save endangered species |url=https://www.radiocomnetu.org/voiceoflango/2023/06/01/632/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Voice of Lango |language=en-GB}}</ref> is used to enthrone clan and traditional leaders.

Among the Yoruba in West Africa as well as in the Afro-Brazilian diaspora religions in Brazil, it is believed that this fruit holds mystical powers. In Brazil, it is widely used by practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, especially in initiation rituals and in the preparation of food offerings for the Orishas, being used particularly in foods dedicated to Oxalá.

Fat is traditionally extracted from the kernels by roasting and pressing them. The resulting liquid is boiled, sieved and cooled. The fat, shea butter, is used as food and for medicine and cosmetics.<ref name=honfo/>

The edible protein-rich caterpillars of the moth ''Cirina butyrospermi'' which feed solely on its leaves are widely collected<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nikiema |first1=A. |last2=Umali |first2=B.E. |chapter=Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn |editor1-last=Van der Vossen |editor1-first=H.A.M. |editor2-last=Mkamilo |editor2-first=G.S. |title=Plant resources of tropical Africa 14 : vegetable oils |location=Wageningen |publisher=PROTA Foundation |pages=182-187}}</ref> and eaten raw, dried or fried.

===Composition of shea butter=== {{Main|Shea butter}} thumbnail|Leaves of a shea nut tree Shea butter extract is a complex fat that in addition to many nonsaponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with alkali) contains the following fatty acids: oleic acid (40–60%), stearic acid (20–50%), linoleic acid (3–11%), palmitic acid (2–9%), linolenic acid (<1%) and arachidic acid (<1%).<ref name="Davrieux 2010">{{Cite journal|author=Davrieux, F., Allal, F., Piombo, G., Kelly, B., Okulo, J. B., Thiam, M., Diallo, O. B. & Bouvet, J.-M. (2010) |title=Near Infrared Spectroscopy for High-Throughput Characterization of Shea Tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) Nut Fat Profiles. ''Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry'', 58, 7811-7819.|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |volume=58|issue=13|pages=7811–7819|doi=10.1021/jf100409v |pmid=20518501|year=2010 |url=http://agritrop.cirad.fr/556466/|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It also contains the vitamins A, E and F.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==Nutritional value== The fruit pulp has a high vitamin C (196.1 mg/100 g). 50 g of the pulp provides 332% of the recommended daily intake of children (4–8 years old), and 98% of that for pregnant women. The fruit's kernels are rich in fat (17.4–59.1 g/100 g dry weight). The fat from the kernels have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.<ref name=honfo/>

==Etymology== The common name is ''shíyiri'' (in N'Ko: {{lang|bm|ߛ߭ߌ߭ߦߌߙߌ}}) or ''shísu'' ({{lang|bm|ߛ߭ߌ߭ߛߎ}}, lit. "shea tree") in the Bambara language of Mali. This is the origin of the English word, whose primary pronunciation is {{IPAc-en|ʃ|iː}} (rhyming with "tea"), although the pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ʃ|eɪ}} (rhyming with "day") is common and is listed second in major dictionaries. The tree is called ''ghariti'' in the Wolof language of Senegal, which is the origin of the French name of the tree and the butter, ''karité''.

In Hausa language the tree is called ''Kaɗe'' or ''Kaɗanya''. Indeed, the shea tree is so indispensable in Mole-Dagbang culinary and ethno-botanical practices that the Northern Ghanaian city of Tamale etymologically derives its name from the more traditional Dagomba name 'Tama-yile' (meaning 'Home of Shea nuts').

The tree was formerly classified in the genus ''Butyrospermum'', meaning "butter seed". The species name ''parkii'' honors Scottish explorer Mungo Park, who learned of the tree while exploring Senegal. Park's Scottish origin is reflected in the English word '''shea''', with a final -ea.{{Explain|date=April 2019}}

==References== {{Reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=iucn>Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. 1998. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/37083/0 ''Vitellaria paradoxa''.] In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 14 June 2013.</ref> old link, broken

}}

==External links== {{sisterlinks|d=Q1348567|c=Category:Vitellaria paradoxa|n=no|q=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=Vitellaria paradoxa}} * [http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=14&id=1659 Vitellaria paradoxa.] In: Brunken, U., et al. 2008. ''West African Plants — A Photo Guide''. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main.

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1348567|from2=Q3321101}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Crops originating from Africa Category:Flora of Ivory Coast Category:Trees of Africa Category:Cosmetics chemicals Category:Sapotoideae Category:Monotypic Ericales genera Category:Sapotaceae genera Category:Taxa named by Karl Friedrich von Gaertner