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Herb library · Herb · Vitellaria paradoxa (syn. Butyrospermum parkii)

Shea butter

The fat pressed from the nut of the West African shea tree, used on skin and hair and in cooking. One randomized study found a shea-based diaper emollient about as protective as petroleum jelly; allergy to it is rare but reported.

Traditional use

Writing in 1915, J. H. Holland records it as Emi-Ori and Emigidi in Yoruba, Kadainya in Hausa and Nku in Asante, used locally for food, for rubbing on the body and for lamps, with the bark used as medicine; the kernels were dried, then braised and boiled and the fat skimmed off. A 2022 review of Sub-Saharan practice found it used for scabies, wounds and umbilical cord care, most often mixed with palm oil.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Diaper skin: in a 6-week randomized crossover study in babies, a diaper carrying a shea-butter emollient kept redness down about as well as one with a petroleum-jelly emollient, and better than no emollient. One industry-funded study.

  • Insufficient

    Wounds, scabies and other skin conditions: traditional use is well documented, but there are no controlled trials of shea butter alone for them.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • ConditionNewborn umbilical cords: applying shea butter to the cord stump is a documented risk for cord infection and bloodstream infection in newborns (a 2025 case from The Gambia). Keep the cord clean and dry as your clinician advises.
  • AllergyContact allergy to shea butter has been reported (a 2024 case of lip inflammation). A 2011 laboratory study found no IgE-binding soluble proteins in shea butter.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“In preparing the butter, the outer pulp of the fruit is first removed and the nuts dried in the sun or by the aid of artificial heat. The outer shell is taken off and the kernels after further drying are braised and boiled, the fat being skimmed off the surface somewhat in the same manner as for the extraction of palm oil.”
J. H. Holland, The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX) (1915), Part III, p. 411. See the page of The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX), Part III, p. 411 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX), Part III, p. 411

Sources

  1. Clinical Evaluation of a Diaper Containing a Shea Butter-Based Emollient and Impact on Diapered Skin Erythema (Pediatr Dermatol, 2025) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Contact allergy to Butyrospermum parkii butter in a patient with cheilitis (Contact Dermatitis, 2024) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Shea Butter Application to the Umbilical Stump Resulting in Omphalitis and Leclercia adecarboxylata Bacteremia in a Neonate: A Case Report (Case Rep Infect Dis, 2025) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Shea butter contains no IgE-binding soluble proteins (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2011) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. A review of ethnomedicinal uses of shea butter for dermatoses in Sub-Saharan Africa (Dermatol Ther, 2022) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.