Uganda National Council for Science and Technology:2025-08-062025-08-062025-04-30Omujal, F. (2024). Stimulating production of shea butter for industrial application in Uganda [Policy brief]. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST).https://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/11989The global demand for shea butter, projected to reach USD 2.9 billion by 2025, continues to grow across the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and confectionery industries. Despite Uganda’s potential in this market, local production primarily relies on traditional artisan and cold-pressing methods, which produce low-quality shea butter unsuitable for industrial applications. To address this challenge, a study was conducted to enhance the quality of Ugandan shea butter through advanced fractionation techniques. Using both dry and solvent-based methods, the study successfully separated shea butter into two components: shea olein (liquid) and shea stearin (solid), at crystallization temperatures of 15°C and 20°C. Solvent fractionation using acetone at 20°C yielded the best results, producing high-quality shea olein suitable for industrial use. Notably, artisan-processed shea butter yielded higher olein fractions (59.4–59.8%) than cold-pressed butter (41.5–41.8%) at both temperature points. Based on these findings, the study recommends adopting solvent fractionation at 20°C for large-scale processing and equipping local producers with the necessary training and technology. It further calls for the development of national standards for high-olein shea butter and the promotion of its broad industrial applications. A pilot fractionation machine has already been fabricated to support industrial-scale implementation.enOther