Twenty-three terms that appear on shea butter specifications, certificates of analysis and export paperwork — each defined in under 45 words and linked to the page that explains it fully.
Summary
Definitions are identical to those on each term's own page.
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a batch-specific document issued by the manufacturer's or a third-party laboratory that reports the measured results of specified tests against the agreed specification limits. For shea butter it typically lists FFA, peroxide value, moisture and identity parameters.
A cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) is a vegetable fat blend whose triglycerides match cocoa butter closely enough to be mixed with it in any ratio without changing melting behaviour or tempering. Shea stearin, the hard fraction of shea butter, is a principal CBE ingredient.
Cold-pressed shea butter is extracted from dried kernels by mechanical pressing alone, with no solvent and no external heat beyond the friction of the press. The method keeps the butter's natural colour, aroma and unsaponifiable fraction largely intact.
Deodorisation is the final refining stage in which fat is held under high vacuum at high temperature while steam is passed through it, stripping out volatile odour and flavour compounds and residual free fatty acids. It gives refined shea butter its neutral smell.
Free fatty acid (FFA) is the share of a fat's fatty acids that have broken away from their glycerol backbone, expressed in shea butter as a percentage of oleic acid. It rises when shea kernels ferment or are stored damp before pressing.
Grade A shea butter is the top quality class for unrefined shea butter: low free fatty acid and peroxide value, low moisture, no foreign matter, and an ivory to pale-yellow colour with a clean nutty aroma. It is the grade buyers specify for cosmetics.
Incoterms are the International Chamber of Commerce's standard three-letter trade terms (such as EXW, FOB, CIF and DAP) that define where the seller's responsibility for delivery, cost and risk ends and the buyer's begins. The current edition is Incoterms 2020.
Iodine value (IV) is the grams of iodine absorbed by 100 grams of fat, a measure of how many unsaturated (double) bonds the fatty acids contain. Higher values mean more unsaturation, a softer texture and greater sensitivity to oxidation.
Lipase is an enzyme that splits triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids in the presence of water. In shea kernels it is naturally present and becomes active when kernels are left wet or unboiled after harvest, raising the butter's free fatty acid content.
Minimum order quantity (MOQ) is the smallest quantity a supplier will accept for a single order, set to cover production, packaging and shipping economics. For bulk shea butter it is stated in kilograms, drums or pallets, with a lower minimum for samples and trial orders.
N-RBD stands for neutralised, refined, bleached and deodorised: the four-stage process that removes free fatty acids, colour pigments and odour compounds from crude shea butter. The result is a white to off-white, near-odourless butter for food, pharmaceutical and fragrance-sensitive cosmetic use.
Neutralisation is the refining step in which free fatty acids in crude fat react with an alkali, usually sodium hydroxide, forming soapstock that is then separated. Alongside steam (physical) refining, it is the only way to lower FFA once shea butter has been pressed.
NIS 571:2013 is the Nigerian Industrial Standard for shea butter, published by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). It sets the quality requirements, grading limits and test methods that shea butter produced or sold in Nigeria is expected to meet.
Peroxide value (PV) measures the primary oxidation products (peroxides and hydroperoxides) present in a fat, reported in milliequivalents of active oxygen per kilogram (meq O₂/kg). In shea butter it indicates how far oxidative rancidity has progressed.
Rancidity is the off-odour and off-flavour a fat develops as it degrades, either by hydrolysis (lipase and water release free fatty acids) or by oxidation (oxygen attacks unsaturated bonds). In shea butter it is tracked through free fatty acid and peroxide value.
Refractive index (RI) is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in a substance, measured for fats on the melted sample at a stated temperature, usually 40 °C. It is a quick identity check for shea butter.
Saponification value is the milligrams of potassium hydroxide (KOH) needed to saponify one gram of fat, so it reflects the average chain length of the fatty acids present. A value outside the expected range for shea is an identity or adulteration signal.
Shea press cake is the solid residue left after shea kernels are mechanically pressed for butter: the crushed kernel fibre and protein with a portion of residual fat. It is a co-product used as fuel, soil amendment and, with treatment, an animal-feed ingredient.
Slip melting point (SMP) is the temperature at which a column of solidified fat in an open capillary tube begins to rise (slip) when warmed in a water bath. It describes when shea butter starts to soften rather than when it is fully liquid.
Unsaponifiable matter is the fraction of a fat that does not form soap when boiled with alkali, mainly triterpene alcohols, sterols, tocopherols and hydrocarbons. Shea butter is unusually rich in it, which is why the fraction is prized in cosmetics.
Vitellaria paradoxa is the shea tree, a slow-growing species of the West African savannah belt whose kernels yield shea butter. Its former botanical name, Butyrospermum parkii, survives in the INCI ingredient name Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter.
Wild collection means shea nuts are gathered from naturally occurring, unplanted Vitellaria paradoxa trees in the savannah parklands rather than from cultivated plantations. Almost all commercial shea is wild-collected, mostly by women, during the rainy-season fruit fall.
Winterisation is a refining step in which an oil is cooled slowly so that higher-melting fractions crystallise and are filtered out, leaving a liquid that stays clear when chilled. It is used on liquid oils and shea olein fractions, not on standard shea butter.
Use a definition to confirm what a term on a COA or spec sheet means. Follow the link for the values to specify and how the test is run. When a certificate uses a synonym — acid value, POV, SMP, RBD, karité — the alternate names on each term page list it. Process terms such as neutralisation, deodorisation or winterisation describe the step, not whether a particular factory applies it.
Read the numbers on the shea butter specifications hub. When you have a certificate in hand, how to read a shea butter COA walks the lines. For how a test is run, use the test methods directory; glossary entries name the method only.
Complete guide to shea butter
Origin, production, grades, specifications and supply.
Shea butter specifications
FFA, peroxide value, moisture, SAP, RI and more.
Shea butter grades
Grade A, B and C compared with refined N-RBD.
Free shea butter calculators
FFA, grade checker, COA interpreter and lye calculator.
Shea butter vs other butters
Side-by-side comparisons with cocoa, mango and more.
Last reviewed September 2026 by EMI Agro Industries QC team.
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