Effect of processing factors on Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) butter extraction

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of processing factors on butter yield and mineral concentration of Shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) subspecies nilotica extracted using screw expeller. The significant effect of conditioning duration (CD), kernel moisture content (MC) and die temperature (DT) were investigated by a 33 full factorial design combined with response surface methodology. Butter yield, fines particles (foot), Ca and Zn concentration were selected as response variables. The model enabled to identify the optimum operating settings (MC = 6.5 g/100 g w.b and DT = 65.5 °C) for maximize butter yield, under which it predicted 42.05 g/100 g d.w. While considering other response, in allover optimization, CD of 30 min, MC of 9 g/100 g w.b and DT of 65 °C were obtained.