LIQUID-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF FATTY ACID CONTENT OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIAN SHEA BUTTER (VITELLERIA PARADOXUM)

Fatty acid composition plays an important role in the choice of fats used in the production of chocolate and other food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products that require fat-base, cocoa butter or its equivalence. This has renewed the interests in the study of fatty acid composition and its possible modifications in fats and oils. Variations in fat properties and fatty acid composition due to climatic and regional or geographical differences prompted this investigation. The fatty acid composition of shea butter processed between October-November in Okaka town, south western part of Nigeria was evaluated by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The result obtained showed that it contains 54% of unsaturated fatty acids, of which 46% is oleic acid (C18:1), 6.6% linoleic acid (C18:2) and 1.3% linolenic acid (C18:3). While the saturated fraction of 46% is predominantly stearic acid (C18:0) 41.8% and palmitic acid constituting only 3.5%. Myristic acid (C14:0) is present only in almost undetectable amount (0.08%) while lauric acid C12:0 was undetectable. This butter has higher unsaturated fraction which makes it unique from the general West African shea butter, hence it has good potential for domestic consumption and for food industry use such as cocoa butter equivalence and shortenings with minimal or no health risk.