An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plant Vitellaria paradoxa (Sapotaceae)

Common Names
Butterseed; Shea Nut; Shea-Butter-Tree; Sheatree; Shea
How this plant is used
Medicinal
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
FIBER 15 Seed not available 56000.0 -0.62 Duke, 1992 *
FIXED-OIL 0 Seed not available 521000.0 1.73 Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
GERMANICOL 0 Seed Oil not available not available not available Itoh, O., Uetsuki, T., Tamura, T., Matsumoto, A. 1980. Characterization of Triterpene Alcohols of Seed Oils From Some Species of Theaceae, Phytolaccaceae and Sapotaceae. Lipids 15 6: 407-411.
IRON 6 Seed not available 32.0 -0.55 Duke, 1992 *
KILOCALORIES 0 Seed not available 6220.0 1.07 Duke, 1992 *
LANOSTEROL 1 Seed Oil not available not available not available Itoh, O., Uetsuki, T., Tamura, T., Matsumoto, A. 1980. Characterization of Triterpene Alcohols of Seed Oils From Some Species of Theaceae, Phytolaccaceae and Sapotaceae. Lipids 15 6: 407-411.
LEUCINE 2 Seed not available 7225.0 -0.94 Duke, 1992 *
LINOLEIC-ACID 27 Seed 22620.0 28930.0 -0.67 Duke, 1992 *
LINOLEIC-ACID 27 Seed Oil not available 69000.0 -1.27 Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
LINOLENIC-ACID 0 Seed Oil not available 16000.0 -0.94 Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
LUPEOL 21 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
LUPEOL 21 Seed Oil not available not available not available Itoh, O., Uetsuki, T., Tamura, T., Matsumoto, A. 1980. Characterization of Triterpene Alcohols of Seed Oils From Some Species of Theaceae, Phytolaccaceae and Sapotaceae. Lipids 15 6: 407-411.
MYRISTIC-ACID 6 Seed Oil not available not available not available Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
OLEIC-ACID 18 Seed 239855.0 257740.0 1.14 Duke, 1992 *
OLEIC-ACID 18 Seed Oil not available 408000.0 0.45 Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
PALMITIC-ACID 13 Seed not available 29980.0 -0.08 Duke, 1992 *
PALMITIC-ACID 13 Seed Oil not available 48000.0 -0.89 Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
PALMITOLEIC-ACID 2 Seed Oil not available not available not available Adomako, D. 1977. Fatty Acid Composition and Characteristics of Pentadesma Butyracea Fat Extracted From Ghana Seeds. J. Sci. Food Agr. 28: 384-386.
PARKEOL 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PARKEOL 0 Seed Oil not available not available not available Itoh, O., Uetsuki, T., Tamura, T., Matsumoto, A. 1980. Characterization of Triterpene Alcohols of Seed Oils From Some Species of Theaceae, Phytolaccaceae and Sapotaceae. Lipids 15 6: 407-411.
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Antidiabetic? 1 Wichtl, M. 1984. Teedrogen. Ein Handbuch fur Apotheker und Arzte. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellscharft. mbH Stuttgart. 393 pp.
Antidote (Aluminum) 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antidote (Lead) 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antidyskinetic 1 Martindale's 29th
Antidyspeptic 1 Duke, 1992 *
AntiEBV 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antieczemic 1 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 189.
Antiedemic 4 Duke, 1992 *
Antiencephalopathic 4 Martindale's 29th
Antifatigue 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Antifibrinolytic 2 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 1: 53.
Antiflu 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antigastritic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Antigranular 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antihangover 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antiheartburn 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antihepatitic 1 Martindale's 29th
Antihepatotoxic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Antiherpetic 2 Duke, 1992 *
Antihistaminic 1 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 189.