Quality Characteristics and Thermal Behavior Diversity of Traditional Crude Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn) Butter from Burkina Faso

The aim of this study was to establish a comparative analysis of the physicochemical and the thermal behavior by p-NMR for solid fat content (SFC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of shea butter (SB) from Burkina Faso, related to different traditional extraction processes. Thirty-seven samples obtained from different localities were collected from local producers and analyzed for chemical indexes, unsaponifiable matter content (UMC), color, yellow index, fatty acids (FA) profile, and thermal behavior. Results showed that stearic acid (34%−47.2%) and oleic acid (40.8%−51%) were the most abundant FA. Chemical quality variations among those samples were observed: UMC (3.0%±1.0%–12.0%±0.1%), peroxide value (4.6 ± 0.1 to 44.5 ± 0.2 meqO2/kg), iodine value by GC (50.5 to 64.2), free fatty acids (1.1%± 0.1%–9.7%±0.1%). Statistically significant relationships were observed between thermal properties and chemical parameters. The results were subjected to clustering and principal component analysis (PCA). Results showed that a great diversity exists among crude shea butter samples from Burkina Faso which is due to both regional variation and difference in extraction processes. A standardization of the process could help to improve the quality.