Wisdom Edem Anyomi

1. Introduction Shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) naturally occur in a wide area in Ghana (latitude 8–10° N). Shea nuts contain stearin and form a very important source of oil in West Africa [1], where it is used mainly in cooking and for body care products. Internationally, it is a substitute for cocoa butter in the bakery industry, as well as in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics [2].

2.2. Data Collection Figure 1 shows the various shapes of shea fruits and dry kernels according to the shea descriptor [19]. Figure 2 shows a cross section of shea fruits with intact nuts and yellow fleshy pulp. The following parameters were recorded: Fresh weight was measured as the weight of intact fruit as collected on ripening with an electronic scale.