General treatment of shea fruits prior to shea butter extraction The processing of shea butter is seasonal. The fruiting and gathering of the nuts occur between the months of May to August every year (Moore, 2008) during which the shea nuts are processed into kernel (Owoo and Lambon¨C Quayefio, 2017).
What is the mechanical press method of shea butter extraction?
The mechanical press method of shea butter extraction has been reported by FAO and CFC (2002) but one of the earliest researches works on the use of the mechanical press was Marchand (1988). His research revealed that equipped with a jack that exerts 30 tonnes of force, a shea butter press could crush more than 3 kg of shea kernels within 20 min.
Is jatropha oil a biofuel for shea butter processing machine?
Mensah MR (2010). Jatropha oil production as biofuel for shea butter processing machine in Ghana: Quality, Characteristics and storability of derived shea butter. Journal of Sciences 2 (1): 45-54. Mohammed S, Heijndermans E, Butter S, Group P (2013). Behind the Butter : An energy analysis of shea butter processing.
How to optimise shea butter production by mechanical extraction?
Shea butter (SB) production by mechanical extraction (ME) was optimised by box-behnken (BB) experimental design of response surface methodology (RSM). The process parameters studied (with their ranges) were sample weight (100 ¨C 200 g), temperature (60 ¨C 120C) and duration of applied pressure (10 ¨C 30 min) to optimise the yield of SB.