Unrefined Grade A Shea Butter for Body Butter & Lotion

Recommended specifications for body butter and lotion

For body butter and lotion, slip melting point and iodine value decide texture and shelf life; peroxide value and free fatty acid decide freshness. Iodine value and peroxide value together predict shelf life at high loads. Storage practice is in the storage guide; how to read the sheet is in the COA guide.

Why Unrefined Grade A shea butter suits body butter and lotion

• Melting point 32–45 °C gives a soft solid that traps air when whipped and melts on skin contact — the defining texture of a whipped body butter.
• Iodine value 52–66 is low for a vegetable fat: fewer double bonds to oxidise, so anhydrous products at 50–80 % shea keep longer than those built on high-IV oils.
• Loading guidance: 50–80 % shea with 20–50 % liquid oils in anhydrous whipped butters; 10–30 % in rich creams; 5–15 % in lotions. Above about 20 % in an oil-in-water system, raise emulsifier level, use high-shear homogenisation and confirm freeze–thaw stability.
• Graininess is polymorphism: stearic-rich triglycerides recrystallise into coarse β crystals under slow or uneven cooling. Melt fully, cool quickly to a soft solid, whip, and protect from heat cycling in warehouse and transit.
• Grade A free fatty acid and a low peroxide value set the oxidation clock at zero; a retained lot sample and 40 °C accelerated ageing at bench predict month-12 odour.
• Unrefined shea remains an unmodified plant fat; the retained unsaponifiables justify raw/unrefined copy. The finished-product brand owns any natural-origin index calculation.

Anhydrous whipped butters and oil-in-water lotions are different architectures. In a whip, shea is the structure; liquid oils open the set. In a lotion, shea is a solid fraction of the oil phase — above about 20 % the emulsifier system has to be raised and homogenised at high shear. The batch melting point on the COA feeds process settings when kitchen whipping becomes planetary mixing and cooling tunnels. Container planning is in the sample-to-container playbook. Water-holding contrast with cupuaçu is on shea butter versus cupuaçu butter.

Bench-test before scale-up:

• whipped butter at 60 % and 75 % shea — overrun, set and grain check at 48 hours and four weeks;
• lotion at 10 % and 20 % shea — viscosity, pH and separation after four weeks at 40 °C and three freeze–thaw cycles;
• odour panel at 0 and 3 months against the retained lot sample;
• transit simulation: two days at 45 °C then ambient — inspect for grain and oil-out.

This page describes composition and performance. It makes no claims about stretch marks, eczema or other conditions.

When to choose refined N-RBD instead

Choose refined N-RBD for fragrance-forward, white or pastel products, for retailer specifications that demand a refined free-fatty-acid and peroxide-value ceiling, or for large multi-batch runs where colour matching is costly. Graininess control is identical for both types. Refined N-RBD Shea Butter for Body Butter & Lotion.

Supply format

EMI Agro loads at Apapa (Lagos) and Tin Can Island (Lagos). Packaging, sample size, minimum order, Incoterms and lead time are confirmed on the quote for the grade and destination you name.

Quality & traceability

Finished butter is specified on a NIS 571:2013 basis. Parameters in the table are measured on every finished batch; the Certificate of Analysis reports the measured values. Kernel lots are titrated for free fatty acid at intake and kept segregated. Kernels are wild-collected through a cooperative network of 5,000+ women collectors. Certification status: NAFDAC registered, SON approved, HACCP in progress, USDA NOP (Organic) in pursuit, EU Organic (EOS) in pursuit, COSMOS in pursuit. Detail sits on the quality page.

• Every finished batch is tested; measured values are reported on the Certificate of Analysis.
• Kernel lots are titrated for free fatty acid at intake and kept segregated.