Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. Shea butter is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. Occasionally, shea butter is mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different. The English word "shea" comes from , the tree's name in Bambara. It is known by many local names, such as in the Dagbani language, in the Wali language, in Twi, or in Hausa, in the Igbo language, in the Yoruba language, in the Wolof language of Senegal, and ori in some parts of West Africa and many others. History The common name is (lit. "shea tree") in the Bambara language of Mali. This is the origin of the English word, one pronunciation of which rhymes with "tea" , although the pronunciation (rhyming with "day") is common, and is listed second in major dictionaries. The tree is called in the Wolof language of Senegal, which is the origin of the French name of the tree and the butter, . The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry savannah belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 21 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Guinea. A testa found at the site of the medieval village of Saouga is evidence of shea butter production by the 14th century. The butter was being imported into Britain by 1846. Composition and properties Shea butter fatty acid profiles Shea butter is composed of five principal fatty acids: palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and arachidic (see Table below). About 85 to 90% of the fatty acid composition is stearic and oleic acids. The relative proportion of these two fatty acids affects shea butter consistency. The stearic acid gives it a solid consistency, while the oleic acid influences how soft or hard the shea butter is, depending on ambient temperature. The